News Room

Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Health and Welfare Jointly Launch Study on Disaster Management and Health Care Burden Reduction in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

• 2021-09-09 00:00:00

The Taiwan International Health Action Team (TaiwanIHA), which is jointly organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Health and Welfare, together with the International Cooperation and Development Fund (TaiwanICDF), the National Applied Research Laboratories (NARLabs), and the National Science and Technology Center for Disaster Reduction (NCDR) signed a strategic cooperation memorandum of understanding (MOU) on April 13, 2021 for the "St. Vincent and the Grenadines Disaster Management & Medical Emergency Burden Reduction Development Program Preliminary Study". The project will involve experts from Taiwan advising the St. Vincent and the Grenadines government in evaluating its disaster response mechanism, and conduct a preliminary evaluation of the construction and strengthening of the country’s earthquake warning system and volcano monitoring facilities. They will also share Taiwan's rich experience and technological capabilities in disaster prevention in the hope of assisting the island country in reducing the burden of emergency medical care.

In her keynote address during the signing ceremony, Secretary General Lily L.W. Hsu(徐儷文) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed the Taiwanese government's concern and sympathy for the recent eruption of the La Soufrière volcano on the island of St. Vincent. She further noted that Taiwan and St. Vincent and the Grenadines are both located in areas where volcanoes, earthquakes, and windstorms are prevalent, and profoundly understands the importance of improving national disaster management mechanisms to effectively reduce damage caused by disasters. Therefore, Taiwan is more than willing to assist Saint Vincent and Grenadines by offering Taiwan’s expertise in public health and medical care and technology for disaster prevention. Deputy Minister Shih Chung-liang(石崇良) of the Ministry of Health and Welfare emphasized that disasters know no borders. He further noted that Taiwan possesses rich experience in disaster prevention and emergency response and will work closely with St. Vincent and the Grenadines to jointly realize the WHO SDGs of "Health for All" and "Leave No One Behind".

According to the Timothy T. Y. Hsiang(項恬毅), Secretary General of the TaiwanICDF, disasters significantly impact people's health and well-being, and the integration of national disaster prevention mechanisms will contribute to implementing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Through the close cooperation between the two countries, the project seeks to utilize Taiwan's unique strengths and increase the momentum of its international cooperation initiatives. Wu Kuang-Chong(吳光鐘), President of NARLabs, pledged that the National Center for Research on Earthquake Engineering would utilize Taiwan's earthquake and volcano monitoring technologies to assist St. Vincent and Grenadines in strengthening its disaster prevention capabilities. NCDR Director Chen Hong-Yu (陳宏宇) pointed out that Taiwan's advanced technology can be leveraged to help reduce the burden of medical and health emergencies of our diplomatic allies.

Andrea Bowman, Ambassador of St. Vincent and the Grenadines to Taiwan, was invited to attend the signing ceremony. She expressed her gratitude to Taiwan for supporting St. Vincent and the Grenadines during the volcanic eruption in La Soufrière, which fully embodies the spirit of "Taiwan can help, and Taiwan is helping". Ambassador Bowman also expressed her sincere condolences on behalf of the government and people of St. Vincent and the Grenadines for the Taroko train derailment accident.

Taiwan IHA is a task force jointly established by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Health and Welfare to coordinate international medical and health cooperation and emergency humanitarian medical assistance efforts. It combines Taiwan’s expertise in healthcare and technology to promote the United Nations' sustainable development goals of "Health for All".