30 b STRATEGIC VISION
tential increase in sanitary control with regard to poultry and has asked authorities in Beijing for a sample of the new strain. The Russian consumerrights watchdog Rospotrebnadzor advised Russian citizens to refrain from travel to China in mid-May. The WHO’s Global Alert and Response website has published extensive material on treating novel, and possibly pandemic, respiratory diseases for health care professionals. The WHO continues to provide a constant stream of H7N9 updates on its website and through social media. Meanwhile in Taiwan, the Republic of China (ROC) authorities have designated 22 hospitals nationwide as so-called emergency response centers for H7N9, with further facilities approved as possible quarantine locations should the situation escalate. Hygiene and health precautions for travelers to China were announced by the ROC Department of Health. A day after the first case of H7N9 in Taiwan was confirmed on April 24, 2013, Premier Jiang Yihuah met with officials from the Central Epidemic Command Center where it was decided to strengthen
existing surveillance and other preventive measures. One of the main political priorities should be to support vaccine research. In an interesting development in cross-strait relations, China is also sharing the H7N9 strain with Taiwanese authorities for further research. On April 6, 2013, two Taiwanese medical experts visited Shanghai and were able to observe precautions being taken and treatment of patients in local hospitals. The exchange was made possible by the bilateral signing of a 2010 cross-strait medical cooperation agreement, and ROC President Ma Ying-jeou has called for joint cooperation on the development of a vaccine. ROC officials should heed the advice of scholars such as Dr. Mely Caballero-Anthony, who noted that countries and regional organizations worldwide should begin to regard public health as a global public good that requires intensive international cooperation. Governments in Southeast Asia, as well as that of Taiwan, should be encouraged to make health care a budgetary priority. n
photo: Brett Weinstein The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention facility in Atlanta, Georgia. The CDC is the world’s leading body dealing with bird flu and other outbreaks.