[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 10 (Thursday, January 21, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Page S866]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        TAIWAN'S PARTICIPATION IN THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION

 Mr. TORRICELLI. Mr. President, Senator Murkowski and I have 
submitted a resolution that is critical to the future health and well-
being of the people of Taiwan and the rest of the world. I rise today 
to express my support for the resolution regarding the Republic of 
China on Taiwan's participation in the World Health Organization (WHO). 
Improving health care in Asia, and around the world, is one of the most 
important issues facing the international community as we move into the 
21st century. Despite the fact that many people are better off today 
than their parents and grandparents were years ago, we still face 
tremendous obstacles to establishing basic health care in a number of 
regions around the world. To this date, children are still not 
vaccinated, clean water and sanitation are still not available to 
hundreds of millions of people, curative drugs and treatments are still 
inaccessible, and over 500,000 mothers die unnecessarily each year in 
childbirth.
  The WHO has been instrumental in helping to draw attention to these 
issues, and to bring needed relief to some of the most underprivileged 
people in the world. As we all know, sickness and disease span across 
borders and can affect anyone, regardless of where he or she lives. 
Here in the United States, we have been lucky enough to enjoy 
relatively easy access to the newest advances in medical technology and 
knowledge. However, the people of Taiwan have not been so fortunate. 
The 21 million citizens of Taiwan are currently barred from accessing 
the same technologies and techniques through the WHO that many other 
nations benefit from.
  In addition, the Taiwan has been frustrated in its attempts to share 
its own medical knowledge with the rest of the world. Until Taiwan 
gains membership in the WHO, it cannot contribute its substantial 
expertise in health care to furthering the organization's goals. We can 
all benefit from the advances Taiwan has made on its own, and Taiwan 
can, in turn, improve its own situation by accessing the resources 
amassed by the WHO. The resolution that Senator Murkowski and I have 
submitted addresses an issue of basic human decency, and I urge my 
colleagues to support our efforts to help Taiwan become a member of the 
WHO.

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