Taiwan should enhance the exchange of information and experience with the Chinese mainland in order to jointly combat the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), a medical expert from Taiwan appealed Wednesday.
Intensified exchanges could assist Taiwan's efforts in fighting the disease, which would be beneficial to Taiwanese, said Yi-Ming A. Chen, president of the Society of Preventive Medicine in Taiwan during an on-going forum on SARS.
Chen, along with six medical experts and senior health-care officials from Taiwan, intends to share detailed information on SARS with his mainland counterparts during the two-day forum.
The forum is helpful for sharing experiences on disease control and treatment, Chen said, noting that he hopes the two sides across the Taiwan Straits will set up a long-term mechanism for cooperation on health care and disease control.
Such a mechanism would facilitate exchanges and cooperation between the two sides in the event that a new disease emerges, Chen said, noting his society had initiated exchanges and reciprocal visits with the mainland's relevant institutes in 1993, and that he himself had visited the mainland recently to attend an academic activity on AIDS.
Ruey-Shiung Lin, an epidemiologist from Taiwan, said that the conference is of great significance and that the mainland's anti-SARS experience provides ample opportunities for Taiwan's medical experts and health-care workers to analyse and learn from.
(Xinhua News Agency April 24, 2003)
