Taiwan Health Ministry’s Incompetence Leads to
Dramatic Rise in SARS Cases
On May 16, Taiwan’s health minister, Twu Shiing-jer,
resigned to take responsibility for a dramatic rise in
SARS cases. On May 17, Taiwan reported a record one-day
jump of 34 cases. The number of new cases in China and
Hong Kong have seemingly slowed down.
In many Taiwan families, it is normal for family members
to stay in hospital to care of a sick family member. Often,
they will operate in shifts, going in and out of the hospital
according to a set schedule. Usually, a visitor will stay
overnight at the hospital, sleeping on the couch or floor.
This continued through late April and early May, when
SARS was just beginning to affect the island. Many Taiwanese
are Taoists, and one of the important traditions is that
a dying person be allowed to die at home. Otherwise, it
is believed that their spirit will be lost in the netherworld.
It is not uncommon for a person taking their last few
breaths to be taken on an emergency ambulance ride home
so that they can die there. This is another local custom
which has contributed to the worsening SARS situation
in Taiwan. Since this is such a common local tradition,
visitors are usually allowed in and out of hospitals without
registration or showing any documentation. Because this
is such a deeply ingrained habit, the Taiwan local health
authorities were reluctant to impose any restrictions.
Apparently some visitors to hospitals became SARS victims
and then carriers, spreading the virus exponentially throughout
Taiwan society.
To make matters worse, Taiwan’s health ministry
did not take any quick emergency measures to document
visitors to patients in Taiwan’s hospitals. Instead
moves were made to isolate SARS patients to certain hospitals.
However, this has failed as not all SARS victims were
in these designated SARS hospitals. Put simply, Taiwan
does not know, and has no way of calculating the number
of possible SARS carriers on the island or brought overseas
by Taiwan visitors.
In early May, the Taiwan authorities internally discussed
the possibility of declaring an island-wide health emergency
by President Chen Shui-bian, but this was dismissed as
Chen, who is flagging in polls and is facing an election
in 2004, did not want to further frighten the island’s
23 million people. Instead, a campaign was started to
pin the blame on China, which has blocked Taiwan’s
membership in the World Health Organization (WTO). For
supporters of Taiwan independence in Taiwan and internationally,
China is a favorite whipping boy for anything which goes
wrong on the island. However, there is nothing to support
the argument that Taiwan’s membership in WTO would
have changed the way this tragedy has developed; the stumbling
block has been the incompetence and negligence of Taiwan’s
health bureaucracy and government.
In Hong Kong, the local health authorities acted swiftly
to introduce draconian measures to prevent the transmission
of the highly contagious SARS corona virus. SARS patients
were not allowed to see family members, even when gravely
ill. The only communications allowed was through mobile
phones, and dying patients had to say goodbye over the
phones. Coffins were sealed, and public funerals were
banned. As a result, many families set up online memorials
to the departed where visitors could pay their respects.
In contrast, China has introduced much more draconian
measures in the fight against SARS, threatening execution
to those who knowingly infect others while ill with the
virus.
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