The outbreak of an epidemic of the pre-viously unknown disease SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) revealed a Taiwan public health system shot through with flaws. But twenty years ago, Taiwan had suppressed malaria, Japanese encephalitis, infantile paralysis, and other infectious diseases and had successfully set up a powerful frontline, grassroots defense network against epidemics.
一場前所未有的嚴重急性呼吸道症候群（SARS），暴露出台灣公共衛生體系漏洞百出的困境，不過二十年前，台灣曾經撲滅瘧疾、控制日本腦炎與小兒麻痺等傳染病，成功地在基層建立起一道強有力的抗疫陣線。