Taiwan is preparing to send an entourage to Geneva ahead of the World Health Assembly, despite not being invited to the meeting. Instead of joining in an official capacity, Taiwan will conduct "medical diplomacy" from the sidelines and try to garner support for its inclusion in such international organizations.
00:00Excluding Taiwan from global health conversations is a loss for all.
00:04That's the message from the foreign and health ministries as they prepare to send an entourage to Switzerland
00:09ahead of the World Health Assembly, despite not being given a seat at the table.
00:16AI-integrated medical treatments and experience developing one of the world's most respected national health care systems.
00:23That's what Taiwan is offering as it prepares to campaign from the sidelines of the annual World Health Assembly.
00:29The decision-making body of the World Health Organization and convince the world that its tech and medical expertise are not to be ignored.
00:37We are planning to open a national newspaper meeting with the world's media journalists to encourage more countries and all of the international health care systems to support Taiwan.
00:52Taiwan has not held back its criticism of the WHO, calling its decision to place politics above health, a betrayal and miscarriage of its core duty, one the foreign minister was keen to repeat.
01:13It's the ninth year in a row that Taiwan has been denied access, and even before then it was only granted observer status.
01:28China, which claims Taiwan as its own, continues to block Taiwan's participation.
01:32Taiwan's medical diplomacy campaign is an annual affair, but calls for it to join international bodies like the United Nations and WHO are growing,
01:52particularly since the COVID-19 pandemic, when Taiwan demonstrated its medical prowess tackling the virus.
01:58Just weeks ago, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill that pledged American support for Taiwan's participation in such organizations.
02:07More than just an opportunity to flex its medical and technological might,
02:12the meetings on the sidelines of the upcoming World Health Assembly will give Taiwan a chance to garner more support for its cause,
02:19to be allowed in the room where the conversations are happening about the future of health for all.
