07-R275
2007 -- S 0039 SUBSTITUTE A
Enacted 05/22/07
J O I N T R E S O L U T I O N
SUPPORTING THE
APPLICATION OF THE REPUBLIC OF CHINA (TAIWAN) FOR OBSERVER STATUS AT THE WORLD
HEALTH ORGANIZATION
Introduced By: Senators
Walaska, McCaffrey, Issa, and Bates
Date Introduced: January
12, 2007
WHEREAS,
Good health is essential to every citizen in the world, and access to the
highest
standards of health information and services is necessary to improve public
health; and
WHEREAS,
The first chapter of the World Health Organization's (WHO) charter sets the
goal
of attaining the highest possible level of health for all persons; and
WHEREAS,
Taiwan's achievements in the field of health are substantial, including one
of
the world's highest life expectancy levels in Asia; maternal and infant
mortality rates
comparable
to those of western countries; the eradication of such infectious diseases as
cholera,
smallpox,
and the plague; and the first nation to eradicate polio and provide children
with
hepatitis
B vaccinations; and
WHEREAS,
Taiwan's population of 23.5 million is larger than three-fourths of the
member
states already in the WHO; and
WHEREAS,
With the great potential for cross-border spread of diseases, such as the
human
immunodeficiency virus (HIV), tuberculosis, malaria, severe acute respiratory
syndrome
(SARS)
in 2002, and the recent outbreak of avarian flu, it is crucial for all
countries, including
Taiwan,
to have direct and unobstructed access to information and assistance from the
WHO in
order
to successfully limit the spread of various infectious diseases; and
WHEREAS,
The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and its
Taiwanese
counterpart agencies have enjoyed close collaboration on a wide range of public
health
issues; and
WHEREAS,
In 2002, the United States House of Representatives and the United States
Senate
authorized the Secretary of State to endorse observer status for Taiwan at the
World
Health
Organization and the House repeated its endorsement in 2005; now, therefore be
it
RESOLVED,
That this General Assembly of the State of Rhode Island and Providence
Plantations
hereby commends Taiwan's efforts to improve world health and supports its
efforts to
gain
observer status at the World Health Organization; and be it further
RESOLVED,
That the Secretary of State be and he hereby is authorized and directed to
transmit
duly certified copies of this resolution to the President of the United States;
Michael
Leavitt,
the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services; Dr. Margaret Chan the
Director-General
of the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland; and Director-General
K.T.
Yang of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Boston.
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LC00296/SUB A
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