全球衛生事務具有專業及政治雙重性格,本質爲外交政策之一環,台灣在2003年SARS期間被國際社會孤立之情形,即爲此種雙重性格之例證,在IHR 2005規範施行後,2006年印度在H5N1大流行中對病毒主權的爭執,2009年WHO對台灣H1N1疫情通報資料處理的不公平待遇,全球衛生事務的此種雙重性格又再次被凸顯,然而我國衛生官員對此事的處理,呈現出我國衛生官員面對全球衛生事務時過度簡化其事件本質和國際衛生視野的不足。未來主導我國國際衛生事務參與之人,除須對全球衛生議題之政治複雜性有更深刻之理解外,更須對全球衛生事務的政治及外交操作有更多的訓練與熟練,如此才能在提升我國國際衛生領域之參與的同時,使我國能夠有尊嚴有國格的擠身國際衛生舞台,並且能夠受到世界各國平等的對待和尊重,確保全球人類的健康及我國人民的基本人權。
Global health affairs have professional as well as political features and are inexorably a part of foreign policy. These characteristics were manifested in Taiwan's isolation from international society during the SARS outbreak in 2003, Indonesia's viral sovereignty dispute in the 2006 H5N1 epidemic and the WHO website's inaccurate presentation of information in the 2009 H1N1 pandemic in Taiwan. Despite these events, Taiwan's health officials have responded in ways that display the weakness of their understanding regarding global health issues and their lack of global perspective. In the future, Taiwan's representatives should be able to comprehend the complexity of global health affairs and be familiar with the political and diplomatic maneuvers involved in these matters. It is only then that our national dignity can be upheld, our participation in the international community increased, and the health of humankind and the human rights of the people of Taiwan protected.