President Lai presides over sixth meeting of Healthy Taiwan Promotion Committee

TAIWAN, November 27 - On the afternoon of November 27, President Lai Ching-te presided over the sixth meeting of the Healthy Taiwan Promotion Committee. In his opening statement, the president expressed his gratitude for the Taiwan e-Hospital online medical consultation website established by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, and the “100 Doctors Forum” program released by the Cih Yue Charity Foundation, all accomplished with the support of various ministries, agencies, and experts, noting that these initiatives not only raise the public’s health literacy but also demonstrate the achievements of cross-sector cooperation.

President Lai noted that Taiwan has become a super-aged society, and that with dramatic increases in demand for long-term care, the government is launching the Long-term Care 3.0 Plan to achieve the vision for healthy aging, aging in place, and dignified end-of-life care. In addition, the president stated that starting from the global governance context of One Health, we are proposing an integrated national epidemic prevention policy, in the hope of protecting the health of the people of Taiwan and enhancing societal resilience through public-private cooperation.

A translation of President Lai’s opening statement follows:

Today is the sixth meeting of the Healthy Taiwan Promotion Committee. I would like to thank all the advisors and committee members for their many valuable suggestions over the past year, helping the administrative team, civil society groups, and front-line healthcare personnel jointly promote Healthy Taiwan policies. 

For example, at the third committee meeting in February this year, I mentioned that a Healthy Taiwan e-learning platform should be established to improve public awareness of various diseases by drawing on the knowledge of experts in various fields.

Now, the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) has set up a Taiwan e-Hospital website that incorporates 32 hospitals, covers 33 clinical departments such as internal medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, and dermatology, and includes a total of over 200 attending physicians, nutritionists, pharmacists, and nurses who provide free online medical consultations.

The “100 Doctors Forum” program, filmed with resources from the private Cih Yue Charity Foundation, also came online at the end of October. The program addresses the top ten causes of death in Taiwan and other common diseases, inviting the top 100 physicians with the most public trust and clinical experience in the country to deliver accurate and practical health knowledge in a simple and easy-to-understand manner.

These advances crystalize the wisdom and efforts of all the advisors and committee members, and here I would like to thank the experts from various fields for their generous advice. I also want to thank the administrative team for actively implementing those initiatives, making our vision a reality.

In addition to a status report on items listed at the last meeting, today’s agenda also includes two reports from the MOHW on the Long-term Care 3.0 Plan and the integrated national epidemic prevention policy.

Beginning in 2007, Taiwan began promoting the National Ten-year Long-term Care Plan. Over the past 18 years, that plan has upheld the principles of diversified accessibility and aging in place, broadly distributing service resources and expanding the number of services available so that the public can enjoy convenient and affordable services.

Especially after the Long-term Care 2.0 Plan was implemented in 2017, long-term care expenditures and caregiver workforce, as well as the number of patients served and long-term care service sites have all grown dramatically. Taiwan’s long-term care system is now better, more affordable, and more accessible. The system has a service satisfaction rating of up to 90 percent and is widely praised by the public.

But we cannot let these achievements make us complacent. This year, Taiwan has become a super-aged society, and with a rapidly growing elderly population, long-term care programs face many severe challenges. We will therefore proactively launch Long-term Care 3.0 next year to enhance all aspects of long-term care.

We will adopt a human-centered and community-based approach, and achieve our health promotion and active rehabilitation goals through various forward-looking, effective strategies. We will also introduce smart care, bolster family support, and increase the capacity of institutions, so that medical care can be more closely integrated.

Today we will hear a report presenting a complete plan to respond to the long-term care service needs and diversified challenges of the future, thereby achieving the Long-term Care 3.0 vision for healthy aging, aging in place, and dignified end-of-life care.

In addition to the challenges of a super-aged society, emerging infectious pathogens, climate change, and ecosystem changes in recent years have also impacted human, animal, and plant health. Avian flu, mad cow disease, COVID-19, and dengue fever are all familiar infectious diseases, and they are all closely connected to the ecosystem.

Faced with complex and ever-changing circumstances, we must start from the global governance context of One Health and propose an integrated national epidemic prevention policy that sees the health of humans, animals, plants, and the environment as a whole. We must combine cross-ministry and cross-domain expertise to form a “community of action,” integrate institutional frameworks, and propose integrated cross-departmental countermeasures. We must also be proactive to protect the health of the people of Taiwan and enhance societal resilience.

The Healthy Taiwan initiative requires the participation of all citizens. Once again, I want to thank all the advisors and committee members for doing their utmost and contributing their expertise to enable the government to plan policies from a more diverse perspective. I would also like to thank the administrative team and civil society groups for actively implementing various policies through public-private cooperation, and working together for the health of the people of Taiwan. Thank you.

Following his statement, President Lai heard a report on the progress of certain items listed in the fifth committee meeting from Deputy Executive Secretary and MOHW Minister Shih Chung-liang (石崇良), a report on the Long-term Care 3.0 Plan from MOHW Deputy Minister Lue Jen-der (呂建德), and a report on the integrated national epidemic prevention policy from MOHW Deputy Minister Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥). Afterward, President Lai exchanged views with the committee members regarding the content of the reports.