Singapore: A three day workshop focusing on testing and diagnosis of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) was recently held in Taiwan, jointly organized by Taiwan and the United States.

The workshop, that took place in the southern city of Tainan, was being attended by experts from the Asia-Pacific region. Taiwan's Ministry of foreign Affairs said that US experts in disease control gave presentations on related issues, an effort to strengthen the region's abilities to respond to the disease.

The opening ceremony was attended by Mr Christine Hsueh director-general of the ministry's Department of North American Affairs, and Mr Steve Kuo, director-general of the Ministry of Health and Welfare's Centers for Disease Control.

Noting that Taiwan is experienced in combating epidemics and has cooperated with the US on international responses to epidemics such as Ebola, the officials said that Taiwan will continue to play a role as a provider of humanitarian assistance.

The workshop is the first since Taiwan and the US signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) June 1 to extend the two countries' cooperation in international public health and other issues of mutual concern.