March 18, 2015
Press Release No. 046
On March 18, the Republic of China government launched the Ebola Prevention Training Center to help build up the Asia-Pacific region’s capability to respond Ebola outbreaks and strengthen medical and health care cooperation between Taiwan and the rest of the region. The training courses are being attended by personnel from the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam and Cambodia.
Andrew J. C. Kao, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Steve H. S. Kuo, Director-General of the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control, offered remarks at the opening ceremony of the center. They stressed that, although the region has yet to experience an Ebola outbreak, Asia-Pacific countries are paying close attention to how recent Ebola outbreaks are developing. With its well-developed health care system and experience in combating pandemics, Taiwan established the center through close cooperation with the United States. Taiwan can now share the newest information on fighting the disease with other countries, thereby fulfilling its role as a responsible member of the international community and contributing to global anti-epidemic efforts. It is hoped that the participants of this course will become seeds that can help their countries establish robust Ebola response systems, which can then expand to form a related comprehensive Asia-Pacific network.
Taiwan and the United States have worked closely together to combat Ebola outbreaks in the international arena. To help Taiwan establish the center, the US trained experts from Taiwan to become seed teachers specialized in Ebola epidemics in the Asia-Pacific region. It also maintained close communication with Taiwan while Taiwan was contacting other Asian countries about the training program.
Christopher Marut, Director of the American Institute in Taiwan’s Taipei Office, and Christian Castro, Director of the US State Department’s Office of Taiwan Coordination also attended the inauguration ceremony. They lauded Taiwan’s efforts to fight diseases worldwide and reaffirmed the solid Taiwan-US ties. The ROC Ministry of Foreign Affairs appreciates the continued deepening of the Taiwan-US partnership, and stresses that Taiwan will continue to work with the US on a variety of substantive international endeavors in order to better assist the international community.
The training center program complements other efforts made by the ROC to help the international community combat pandemics. Previously it donated 100,000 sets of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to West Africa and US$1 million to the US CDC Foundation for the global Ebola response. Taiwan also made a donation to the Pan-American Development Foundation for the purchase of 100 units clinical care PPE in Latin America and the Carribean. Taiwan’s proficient efforts in fighting diseases worldwide has been widely commended throughout Asia, Africa, and Latina America. (E)