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The Taiwan Centers for Disease Control (CDC; ) is the agency of the Ministry of Health and Welfare of Republic of China (Taiwan) that combats the threat of communicable diseases.


Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC)

The Central Epidemic Command Center, division of the , is activated by the government of Taiwan for several disease outbreaks, as the
2009 swine flu pandemic The 2009 swine flu pandemic, caused by the H1N1 influenza virus and declared by the World Health Organization (WHO) from June 2009 to August 2010, is the third recent flu pandemic involving the H1N1 virus (the first being the 1918–1920 Sp ...
and the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
. The CECC has the authority to coordinate works across government departments and enlist additional personnel during an emergency.


History

The agency was established on 1 July 1999.


Timeline of early warning for COVID-19

TCDC officials saw premonitions of the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
in December on social media. As well, medical staff freely transit the Taiwan Strait, so the TCDC was dimly aware that something was awry in December. On 31 December, Wuhan city government stamped paper that required doctors in the city to report all cases of a novel
pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severi ...
to them. On 1 January, the Huanan Seafood City market (HSCM) was shuttered by the health authorities. By 5 January 2020, the
Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
CDC began monitoring all individuals who had travelled to
Wuhan Wuhan (, ; ; ) is the capital of Hubei Province in the People's Republic of China. It is the largest city in Hubei and the most populous city in Central China, with a population of over eleven million, the ninth-most populous Chinese city an ...
within fourteen days and exhibited a fever or symptoms of upper respiratory tract infections. These people were screened for 26 known pathogens, including
SARS Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a viral respiratory disease of zoonotic origin caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV or SARS-CoV-1), the first identified strain of the SARS coronavirus species, ''seve ...
and
Middle East respiratory syndrome Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) is a viral respiratory infection caused by ''Middle East respiratory syndrome–related coronavirus'' (MERS-CoV). Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. Typical symptoms include fever, cough, ...
, and those testing positive were quarantined. Chuang Yin-ching recounted that "TCDC made a request to the Chinese health authority on 6 January. I was notified on 11 January. I remember that day very clearly because that was the Taiwan presidential election day. Around 6 pm in the afternoon I got a phone call from the director general of the Taiwan CDC that (I and a colleague) had permission to go to Wuhan. We flew there the next night for a meeting on 13 and 14 January morning and afternoon in Wuhan." On 15 January, Chuang and his colleague were summoned to the Director-General of the TCDC. The next morning he was present at the expert task force meeting. This was followed by a press conference on 16 January. On 20 January 2020, the CECC was activated.


Notable personnel

* Chuang Yin-ching, commander of the Communicable Disease Control Medical Network * Ih-Jen Su, director-general (2003–2005) * Twu Shiing-jer, director-general (2000–2002)


Organizational structure

* Information Management Office * Secretariat * Personnel Office * Civil Service Ethics Office * Accounting and Statistics Office


Divisions

* Division of Planning and Coordination * Division of Infection Control and Biosafety * Division of Acute Infectious Diseases * Division of Chronic Infectious Diseases * Division of Preparedness and Emerging Infectious Diseases * Division of Quarantine * Epidemic Intelligence Center * Center for Diagnostics and Vaccine Development


Centers

* Taipei Regional Center * Northern Regional Center * Central Regional Center * Eastern Regional Center * Southern Regional Center * Kaohsiung-Pingtung Regional Center


Transportation

The headquarter center is accessible and within walking distance south of Shandao Temple Station of
Taipei Metro Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT), branded as Metro Taipei, is a rapid transit system serving the areas of Taipei and New Taipei in Taiwan, operated by the government-owned Taipei Rapid Transit Corporation, which also operates the Maokong Gondo ...
.


Methadone program

The agency subsidizes a methadone maintenance treatment program in Taiwan. This includes providing methadone for addicts as well as providing psychiatrists, nurses, and case works, additionally the program "also provides educational programs for specific patients who were under conditions of deferred prosecution."


See also

*
Healthcare in Taiwan Healthcare in Taiwan is administered by the Ministry of Health and Welfare of the Executive Yuan. As with other developed economies, Taiwanese people are well-nourished but face such health problems as chronic obesity and heart disease. In 2002 ...


References


External links

* {{Authority control 1999 establishments in Taiwan Executive Yuan Government agencies established in 1999 Government of Taiwan Public health organizations National public health agencies Medical research institutes in Taiwan