New Southbound Policy Portal
Taiwan’s Ling Jiou Mountain Charity Foundation has continued to carry out public service work in Myanmar for many years; however, due to the dual impact of the Covid epidemic and political unrest in the past three years, large-scale projects had to be temporarily suspended. Now that the epidemic has eased, the Foundation stated that it would restart the planned projects that have been suspended. The donation on behalf of WOH Medical Co. Ltd. (Taiwan) of 4 portable ultrasounds to the Myanmar Liver Foundation (MLF) is the first post-epidemic project, in hope of helping MLF to improve its hepatitis prevention and control programs in rural areas of Myanmar.
The donation ceremony was held in Yangon on September 13, 2023. In addition to Myanmar Liver Foundation President Khin Pyone Kyi, Chairman Tin Nyunt, Deputy CEO of Ling Jiou Mountain Foundation Samuel Chen, and Vice Superintendent of Taoyuan General Hospital Wang Wei-jie all having made remarks on behalf of their respective organizations, Dr. Chung Hsing Chou, Representative of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Myanmar was also invited to witness the ceremony and deliver remarks.
Dr. Chou pointed out that the implementation of overseas donation cases, from collection of items to delivery and operation training, requires the coordination of many links and handling of export requirements, taxation, shipping, customs clearance and so on. Thanks to concerted effort of Ling Jiou Mountain Charity Foundation, WOH Medical Co. Ltd. (Taiwan), Taoyuan General Hospital of Taiwan’s Ministry of Health and Welfare and Myanmar Liver Foundation, this donation of medical equipment and cash was a task perfectly executed. He also congratulated Taoyuan Hospital for signing a Letter of Agreement for cooperation with MLF and expressed his hope that the three parties present at the ceremony can expand cooperation in the future, bringing more of Taiwan’s excellent medical technology and services to Myanmar, to enhance Myanmar’s medical capacity and benefit the local people.
Dr. Chou also mentioned that Taiwan’s NGO groups have continued to show concern for Myanmar in recent years. For example, even before the Covid epidemic, Shin Kong Memorial Hospital has continued to assist Myanmar medical institutions in physician training in Taiwan and conduct international medical exchange and cooperation projects. Shin Kong and Ling Jiou Mountain Foundation, Taoyuan General Hospital, to name just a few, are exemplifiers of medical diplomacy, and true practitioners of Taiwan’s New Southbound Policy for linking with the Southeast Asian countries. He would look forward to more and more interactions between Taiwan and Myanmar, and wish Taiwan-Myanmar relations further progress.
The Myanmar Liver Foundation is a non-profit, non-governmental organization founded in 2012 by Professor Than Sitt, a famous liver disease expert in Myanmar. It is the first registered liver foundation in Myanmar (completed registration in 2014), focusing on raising public awareness of hepatitis B and C, and working closely with the Myanmar Ministry of Health on liver diseases vaccination. It operates the Than Sitt Charity Clinic in Yangon, and worked with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), CPI (USA), Australia’s “Hepatitis B Free,” Thailand’s Mahidol University and other INGOs in liver disease investigation and research projects, making great contributions to the prevention and treatment of liver disease in Myanmar.
