2009 year Press Release
The Taiwanese Association in Italy and San Raffaele University organized a World AIDS Day Scientific Workshop on December 1, 2008, at the university’s campus in Milan, Italy. Nearly 200 scholars, medical workers, and students participated in the event, which was sponsored by TaiwanIHA.TaiwanIHA Sponsors World AIDS Day Scientific Workshop on Molecular HIV Control in Milan, Italy
The workshop took place on World AIDS Day and was dedicated to Dr. Carlo Urbani, the Italian physician who first identified severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and sacrificed his life while studying this deadly epidemic in 2003.
Dr. Jeang Kuan-teh, a research fellow at Academia Sinica, and eight other AIDS experts from Switzerland and Italy prepared articles and lectures for the seminar. Professor Guido Poli of San Raffaele University and Mr. Juang Jeng-tse, President of the Taiwanese Association in Italy, acted as the workshop’s moderators.
Minister Yeh Chin-chuan of the Ministry of Health and Welfare of the Republic of China (Taiwan) and Senator Antonio Tomassini, President of Italy’s Senate Committee on Health Affairs, also sent letters conveying their greetings and congratulations, which were read out loud to the public. Minister Yeh expressed his respect of Dr. Urbani’s contributions and emphasized that, in this era of globalization, a transnational effort is a must to control transmittable diseases, such as SARS and AIDS. He also expressed that the Ministry of Health and Welfare is honored to support the Taiwanese Association in Italy and San Raffaele University in hosting similar meaningful events, as they raise awareness of the fight against AIDS and promote bilateral cooperation in healthcare. The Minister also called for support of Taiwan’s participation in the World Health Organization, which would enable Taiwan to promptly obtain vital information on epidemics and help safeguard of the wellbeing of all mankind.
Dr. Jeang Kuan-teh, head of the Molecular Virology Section in the Laboratory of Molecular Microbiology under the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, gave the main lecture of the workshop, expounding the relationship between human beings and HIV as well as his research on HIV gene regulation.
In his conclusion, Professor Poli gave special thanks to TaiwanIHA for its assistance. Through Dr. Carlo Urbani’s altruism, TaiwanIHA once again proved that “health knows no boundaries.”