Taiwan: Good partner for Mongolia’s fight against coronavirus and global public health

As the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) continues, the government of Mongolia is on high alert to prevent COVID-19’s invasion. Taiwan, as a good friend of Mongolia, takes comfort in the fact that there has been no confirmed case in Mongolia since the outbreak. After all, recent years have seen a gradual increase of Taiwanese people to visit and do business in the country, and many Taiwanese citizens are currently working in Mongolia. Taiwan is also a good partner for Mongolia in terms of medical and health cooperations: Taiwan’s institutions have helped train over 800 Mongolian doctors and nurses. Among the Taiwan-trained medical personnel are those serving the few specific national hospitals of Mongolia in the country‘s defense against COVID-19. With these growing connections between Taiwan and Mongolia, it is interesting to note the factors that make Taiwan a suitable international partner in the fight against the coronavirus.

I. Taiwan’s achievement in combating COVID-19 internationally acclaimed

While the number of confirmed cases is on the rise, Taiwan has managed to keep the number on check at 22. German Institute Taiwan commended Taiwanese efforts at controlling the spread of the virus in a post on their official Facebook page, writing that “although Taiwan is so close to the birthplace of the novel coronavirus, it has succeeded in containing the spread of the virus with fewer confirmed cases and preventing a major outbreak. The measures taken by Taiwan to deal with this deadly virus have been examplary.”

II. Effective measures taken by Taiwan to contain the virus spread

1. Foresight

In 2003, Taiwan was hit hard by SARS due to the cover-ups of the virus’s outbreak by its neighboring country, causing a loss of 73 Taiwanese lives. Therefore, when China first reported 27 cases of unidentified pneumonia to the World Health Organization (WHO) on 31 December 2019, the Taiwan government was determined to carry out virus testing on all passengers of the in-bound flights from the city where the coronavirus originated. On 15 January this year, the novel coronavirus pneumonia was listed as a fifth-category notifiable communicable disease, a move Taiwan conducted earlier than other countries.

2. Rapid check

Taiwan successfully developed a test reagent on 13 January, shortening the time of identifying a confirmed case to four hours. Taiwan’s health authorities carried out a medical screening for 128 passengers on a cruise ship, with a total of 1,730 passengers on board. This medical operation was completed in just a few hours. There was no infection found, and all passengers got off the ship that very night. This showcased Taiwan’s technological edge and administrative efficiency in public health. Medical workers from the Taipei Hospital took part in the onboard screening, and that same hospital has, in fact, helped to train over 300 Mongolian doctors and nurses over the past decade.

3. Travel history alert

According to Numbeo, the world largest crowdsourced database of healthcare and living conditions, Taiwan ranks at No.1 in the world in its 2020 Health Care Index survey, and followed respectively by Korea and Japan. Taiwan’s National Health Insurance (NHI) system is internationally acclaimed, and some 1,600 Mongolian students currently studying in Taiwan are also covered by the system. Countering the virus threat, the system now integrates patients’ immigration data, NHI cards and personal IDs that enables doctors to check patients’ travel history in just a few seconds. For example, during the four-day period from 27 to 30 January, the NHI cloud database showed travel alert of 30,000 patients with a travel history to visit China, Hong Kong and Macau. This integration of data is very helpful to clinical diagnosis.

4. Cellphone monitoring

For those who need to quarantine themselves at home, the Taiwan government provides each of them with a cellphone in order to locate and monitor their health conditions. People who evade home quarantine without notice or refuse to follow the cellphone monitoring are fined or placed under compulsory isolation. The manufacturer that provides the specific cellphone, ASUS, is not new to Mongolian customers.

III. Call on Mongolian support for Taiwan’s meaningful participation in World Health Assembly (WHA)

We hope the notions above have given our Mongolian friends a clearer picture of Taiwan’s efforts and achievements in combating the novel coronavirus. Taiwan has always been willing to share with the international community. However, the WHO currently lists Taiwan as part of China in a way that has been not only misleading, but deprives Taiwanese people of their right to health. This also goes against the principle of the UN Sustainable Development Goals “leave no one behind”. We urge our friends from Mongolia to uphold professional medical principles, and support our aspiration to take meaningful participation in such WHO-related activities and meetings as WHA, so that we may all help in this global collaboration to curb the coronavirus spread and help save lives.