Page 20 - DIVA_2_2007_No.29

Taiwan doctors leap into the outbreak zone
By Alexander Chou

Kenya. On 18 Decet'nber lation wards, preventrve
The humble mosquito has
2006, Dr. Clien Hou-chartng gOWnS, sanitation program-
been one of the greatest tnass
and several otber medical spe- mes, infomational data and
n'iurderers lmown to mat'd. cialists were sent to Kenya to laboratones.
P Malaria and dengue fever are find out in what way Taiwan
just two of tlie most comt'nonly
could lielp. TaiwatyIHA Chen sent a message back to
la'iown mosquito-bome disea-
accomplislied this by contac- Taipei with a list of needs and
ses tliat have claimed many
ting persoi'inel from orgamza- a wm'ning about an on-going
lives. But, in Decetriber 2006,
tions such as the United States civil war between rebels and
some of Taiwan's brightest
Centers for Disease Control goveminent troops in nearby
doctors and scientists went uyto
and Prevention (USCDC), Somalia. A task-force was
battle against another lethal
local health authorities and iininediately foimed. Chen
VffllS.
intemational health organuza- infomied the Depa+tinent of

tioris. Healtli, wl'iicli promptly
In Decetnber 2006, an outb-
requested its Centers for
reak of RiftValley fever (RVF) "TaiwanIHA is a professional Disease Control
was repoited in Gax'issa, the and

organization, not a chax'ity," Preventionto assemble a list of
capital city of Kenya's North-
said Chen, an otthopaedist qualified expexts.
Eastem Province. Rift Valley
wlio liad sei'ved at the Central
fever is, according to the World
Hospital of Mzuzu, Malawi, Tlie lead doctor was Ho Bin-
Healtli Orgaimation (WHO),
from 2004 to 2006. "I made slieng, a family pliysicia+t with
mainly an animal vix'us that
some careful prelitninat'y experience in co-ordinating
sometimes affects humans.
assessments of the situatiot'i scientists from different fields.
The vii'us is transmitted from
there based on my professio- He was recoininet'ided to talce
infected mosquitoes to lives-
nal experience." charge due to liis fluency ux
tock, aiid then onto hrunans.
English and enthusiastn in ser-
Clien l'iad previorisly travelled viiig niral connmuuties.
The case iii'unediately caught
to Indonesia to assessthe

the attention of intemational
medical needs of stu'vivors A teain of three biologists was
organizations, such as the Red
of 26
from the tsunami appointed for laboratory work
Cross, WHO, World Food
December 2004. Chen identi- attempting to analyze tlte dis-
Prograinine and Doctors fied two goals ease, conduct tests and w+'iting
Without Borders. The global for
TaiwanIHA's operation reports: Yang Jyh-yuan, Yang
organization of epidemiolo- Kenya: m
gists TEPHINET-Training Clien-fu and Huang JYII-
l prevention of tlie disease; l hsiung. Ainong thetn, Yang
Prograinines in Epidemiology
and gatlieriiig scientistwho Chen-fuwas recentlyrecntited
and Public Health liad experience with SARS, after working for eighteen
Interventions Network -
wl'+ich is siii'iilar to tlye RVF years with the USCDC. Jiang
contacted all its members and
yii'us in tliat both had no cure Dal'i-sliyong, a specialist in
asked for their help, inctuding
aiid were transinitted by infec- dengue fever, lieaded the ept-
Taiwan.
ted mosquitoes. den'ffology team. Chuang Ren-
hsiang, a cliief intelligence
While Taiwan had ca+'ried out
"I foruid that, even with the officer, and Huang Ji-jia, a
medical missions before, this
help of some of the top scien- specialist in parasites and 11108-
was the first tiine it was able to
tists and medical expexts sent quitoes, were also rect'uited.
participate in an intemational
by intemational organizations, Hing Miii-nan, in charge of
mission as an equal pattner
they also needed more epide- infection control, proved ct'iti-
an'ie iniologists and biologists to cal in providing appropnate
witli otlier countries.
nation's medical specialists
cai'iy out fiuther research into treahnent to RVF patients. The
were syumnoned to fight the
tlxe virus that caused the epide- team's inission and destuatton
RVF outbreak because of tbe
tnic," Chen added. were clearly defined, and
experience tbey liad acquired
eqriipment, medication and
in dealing with severe acute
On 25 December 2006, Chen staff were made ready for
respiratoiy syiidrome (SARS)
personally 'visitedthe contami- deliloyinent to Kenya for three
in 2003.
nated area of Gai'ssa, close to weeks.
the border of Somalia, with a
Taiwan hitei'iiational Health population of about 350,000. By 12 Januaiy 2007, however,
Action (TaiwanIHA), an orga- Most of the people were tbe disease l'iad already taken
nization providing medical
Son'iali nomads who lived and more tlian 130 lives. On 14
assistance to developing corut-
slept witli their livestock. Januai'y, the i'nission led by Ho
tries, kept a close watch all the
Cben forind tliat the local reaclied Nairobi, the capital
development of the disease in
hospital had a sliortage of iso- city of Kenya, where the
'l 8 2 2007 Diva
w w w d i v a in t e r n a t i o n a I c h