Taipei, June 11 (CNA) President Chen Shui-bian said Wednesday he is confident that Taiwan will soon see the World Health Organization (WHO) lift its warning against non-essential trips to the country over severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). "We respect the WHO decision to keep in place its travel advisory against Taiwan over SARS concerns for the time being, " Chen said, adding that Taiwan need not feel disappointed, nor should it be daunted by the WHO decision.
Instead, Chen said, Taiwan should redouble its efforts to bring the potentially deadly disease under control. "I'm fully confident that Taiwan can be dropped from the WHO travel advisory list very soon," Chen said optimistically.
Chen made the statements while meeting with Dr. Susan Maloney, a communicable disease section chief at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (USCDC).
The president expressed the ROC government and people's heartfelt gratitude to all the USCDC personnel who have traveled halfway around the world to Taiwan to help with its battle against SARS.
Chen noted that the USCDC has had clinicians and epidemiologists posted in Taiwan since the first SARS case was reported here in mid-March.
The first group of USCDC experts arrived in Taipei March 16 and a total of 24 of its personnel have since traveled to Taiwan to offer counseling. At one point, 10 USCDC personnel were working here simultaneously. "We owe our initial success in taming the SARS outbreak in part to your assistance," Chen told his guest.
He also took advantage of the occasion to thank the United States for its explicit support for Taiwan's bid to join the WHO's annual World Health Assembly conference as an observer. "U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson has on many occasions openly supported our WHO bid. We appreciate his support for our cause," Chen said.
Noting that epidemics know no national boundaries, Chen said the SARS outbreak has signified the need for Taiwan to join the WHO to plug any holes in the global health and epidemic-control systems.
Chen said that although Taiwan still has some sporadic probable SARS cases, the outbreak has largely brought under control. "We believe that the disease can be wiped out in a very short period of time," he added.
The president further said that SARS is not as terrible as was originally imaged. "With proper precautions, the disease can be staved off," he said.
While the SARS outbreak is tailing off, Chen said, the nation must remain vigilant to prevent a possible resurgence. "Although a 10-day nationwide temperature-taking campaign ended Tuesday, I hope the public will continue having their temperatures checked every day as part of our efforts to detect potential SARS carriers," he urged.
For her part, Maloney said SARS is a global issue and requires cooperation of all countries around the world to bring it under control.
Maloney said she and her colleagues feel honored to be able to join in Taiwan's SARS campaign. "We are impressed by the Taiwan medical community's courage and ability to contain the SARS outbreak quickly," Maloney said.
The USCDC personnel have offered many recommendations for Taiwan's SARS-fighting campaign, including augumenting the work force of Taiwan's Center for Disease Control and strengthening training of its staff as well as standardizing in-hospital SARS infection control measures and diagnostic tests.
As SARS is a new disease, Maloney said, all countries around the world should remain alert and caution in handling this new epidemic.