President Chen Shui-bian presided over the "3rd High-level Conference on Prevention of Possible Avian Flu Invasion" on March 9 at the Office of the President, listening to reports made by related ministries and decided to launch ten measures for further follow-ups.
In order to better prepare for any possible invasion of highly pathogenic avian flu H5N1, President Chen's administration held its first and second "High-level Conferences on Prevention of Possible Avian Flu Invasion" in August and October 2005. The third conference focused on two major considerations, and, according to the president, they are:
1. Highly pathogenic avian flu H5N1 has spread extensively to Asia, Europe, and Africa, and as a result 29 countries have been affected to a certain extent. According to experts, this is no less than a sign of further devastating outbreaks. Therefore, Taiwan should never be off-guard and unprepared in this regard.
2. New as the cabinet is, it, under the direction of Premier Su Tseng-chang, has to catch up and re-examine all the prevention measures applied in the meantime. The experiences in fighting SARS must be remembered, in order to make Taiwan well prepared for the highly pathogenic avian flu H5N1.
Before the conference was adjourned, the president directed the adoptation of the following 10 points:
1. China has become a black hole of the global avian flu prevention network. Taiwan should watch more closely on China's avian flu updates, strengthen surveillance, and, more importantly, ask the international community to urge Chine to keep China's disease status and information transparent before it's too late to control the outbreaks.
2. Highly pathogenic avian flu H5N1 is transmittable from migrant birds to domestic birds and vice versa. As Taiwan is located amid the migration routes, it should continue to keep track on this matter. Also, avian flu prevention policies should be persistent and regularized.
3. According to other countries' experiences, some important strategies against avian flu pandemics include: effective isolation of wild birds from domestic ones; culling H5N1-infected birds as soon as there is an outbreak; and preventive vaccination. If any outbreak of this sort happens in Taiwan, the central government and the local governments must work in synergy, all the orders must be fully carried out, and no negligence and procrastination are allowed to happen in any link of the chain of command.
4. We should be more stringent on inbound and outbound traffic quarantine, particularly in preventing illegal bird imports from China, blocking China's fishing boats from entering our territory, cracking down on human trafficking, and strengthening the quarantine work in the "Mini Three Links" in Kinmen and Matsu.
5. Storage and development of antivirus drugs and vaccination are most effective to fight against avian flu pandemics. Our antivirus drug storage must reach the required safety level, and the research and development capacity of vaccines must be built up in accordance with Dr. Lee Yuan-tseh's initiation proposed in 2004 APEC Leaders' Meeting.
6. Traditional markets are the blind spots in avian flu prevention. The government should work on the possibility of prohibiting butchering poultry in traditional markets and follow the stipulations according to the Law of Animal Husbandry and thus conduct centralized butchering with machinery.
7. After examining the disease spreads in Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Hanoi, and Ho Chi Minh City, the Urbani Foundation has brought back useful information on avian flu prevention. The government should guide and assist the foundation to communicate with China in regard to disease prevention and control.
8. The key to successful disease prevention and control lies in setting correct strategies and transforming these strategies into standardized operation procedures according to which practices and examinations can be applied. Educating the public is another key area that should not be overlooked. According to the conference conclusions, the Executive Yuan is held responsible to arrange an on-the-site operation and schedule for the president to inspect.
9. In order to establish a reference tank, the Executive Yuan should, according to the conference conclusions, pre-assess any possible impact resulted from avian flu outbreaks on national defense, economy, social stability, cross-strait exchange, transnational marriage, introduction of foreign labors, etc.
10. All the related ministries and departments should adapt and adhere to the opinions presented in the conference and its conclusions, and thus incorporate the above mentioned measures into their respective counterpart strategies.
The other conference attendants include:
Annette Lu, Vice President
Su Tseng-chnag, Premier, Executive Yuan
Wang Jin-ping, Legislative Yuan Speaker
Mark Chen, Secretary-General, Office of the President
Chiou I-ren, Secretary-General, National Security Council
Tsai Ing-wen, Vice Premier, Executive Yuan
Lee Yi-yang, Minister, Ministry of the Interior
Kuo Yao-chi, Minister, Ministry of Transportation and Communications
Liu Yuh-san, Secretary-General, Executive Yuan
Hu Sheng-cheng, Chairman, Council for Economic Planning and Development
Chen Chien-jen, Minister, National Science Council
Joseph Wu, Chairman, Mainland Affairs Council
Su Chia-chuan, Chairman, Council of Agriculture
Lee Ying-yuan, Chairman, Council of Labor
Chou Jung-tai, Deputy Secretary-General, Office of the President
Cheng Wen-tsan, Director-General, Government Information Office
Ho Sheng-mao, Minister, Department of Health
Chang Kow-lung, Minister, Environmental Protection Agency
Hsueh Shih-min, Director-General, National Security Bureau
Ko Cheng-heng, Deputy Minister, Ministry of National Defense
Wang Shi-tien, Deputy Secretary-General, National Security Council
Wang Ginn-wang, Minister, Coast Guard Administration
Lin Jin-chang, Advisor to National Security Council
Professor Lee Ming-liang
Professor Su I-ren