I understand that he would have been able to fly direct to Taiwan had it not been for the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Crisis.

The World Health Organisation successfully co-ordinated the international response to the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Crisis, and has been combating various lethal diseases in developing and developed countries for decades.

We have seen the success of that, particularly with the Chinese Government's reaction to the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Crisis.

I understand from Bioquell's briefing that it was first deployed during last year's Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Crisis, when it was used in three hospitals in Singapore.

When I visited in September 2003, the country had been entirely out of bounds to western visitors for six months, due to what one might call the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Crisis, or scare, depending on one's point of view.