The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of China (Taiwan) expresses its sincere gratitude to diplomatic allies, the United States and other like-minded countries, distinguished domestic and overseas medical professionals, and international public health organizations for supporting Taiwan’s participation in the 71st World Health Assembly (WHA), and for urging the World Health Organization (WHO) to invite Taiwan to the event.
The representatives of nine local hospitals were awarded the Friend of Foreign Service Medal for advancing Taiwan’s medical diplomacy by Minister of Foreign Affairs Jaushieh Joseph Wu May 4 in Taipei City.
The World Health Organization (WHO) constitution states that “the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health is one of the fundamental rights of every human being.” In Taiwan, this principle is realized through the National Health Insurance (NHI) program, a global benchmark in universal medical care. Taiwan’s expertise in developing this system warrants sharing with the international community through the World Health Assembly (WHA)—the decision-making body of the WHO.
Nongovernmental organizations play an important role in advancing Taiwan’s medical diplomacy and advocating the nation’s participation in the World Health Assembly, the decision-making body of the World Health Organization, according to Vice President Chen Chien-jen April 22.
Effective disease control requires international collaboration and Taiwan is willing and able to help strengthen global prevention networks through participating in the World Health Assembly, the decision-making body of the World Health Organization, Premier Lai Ching-te said April 19.
An international workshop on laboratory diagnosis for enteroviruses staged under the Taiwan-U.S. Global Cooperation and Training Framework got underway April 23 in Taipei City.
In light of a recent cluster of measles cases, Premier Lai Ching-te on Thursday directed the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) to step up efforts to prevent the highly contagious disease while continuing to closely monitor the developing outbreak.
The World Health Organization has for years urged Member States to take action to achieve universal health coverage by 2030. Although not a WHO member, Taiwan has offered universal health coverage to our island’s 23 million citizens since 1995.
According to MOHW statistics for 2016, heart disease, cerebrovascular disease and hypertensive disease—all related to hypertension—were ranked as the second, fourth and eighth leading causes of death in Taiwan, respectively. One in every 4.5 deaths is caused by hypertensive diseases.
Tuberculosis care in Taiwan is partially covered by the NHI. Expenses not provided for under the system are subsidized by the CDC to ensure a strong disease prevention and treatment network.
