Taiwan outperforms other countries in medical care thanks to its highly qualified personnel, state-of-the-art facilities and techniques, and internationally competitive service charges, Premier Jiang Yi-huah remarked at yesterday's political affairs meeting after being briefed by the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) on its plan for promoting Taiwan's medical and health care industry globally.
"For this industry to tap into the world market, domestic resources will have to be integrated, relevant rules and regulations examined, and a two-pronged strategy of international promotion and gradual liberalization implemented," noted the premier. "Moreover, Taiwan's advantages in medical practice, health checkups and cosmetic surgery should be combined through cross-sector cooperation to help enhance the industry's fame in mainland China and Southeast Asia as well as among ethnic Chinese communities and tourists."
International medical services are one of the prioritized fields in the Free Economic Pilot Zone (FEPZ) program, which was approved by the Executive Yuan on April 29, 2013. Since the first-phase plan for the establishment of FEPZs was implemented on August 16 of the same year, the MOHW has set up five international medical care centers at Taiwan's four international airports—Taipei Songshan Airport, Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Taichung Airport and Kaohsiung International Airport—to provide international visitors with such services as medical appointments and consultation.
The implementation of the seven strategies for the first-phase plan has already borne fruit, with over 50 domestic medical institutions taking part in the program. In addition to instructing the MOHW to remain proactive in conducting this effort, Premier Jiang requested relevant agencies to review their operational mechanisms and complementary regulations, including relaxing visa requirements and allowing ethnic Chinese from specified countries like Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos to visit Taiwan for medical and health care, to pave the way for the implementation of the second-phase plan.
"Before developing international health services, a government obviously has to first take care of its own citizenry's health and enhance the nation's medical quality," the premier said. "When other countries were promoting international health care, the ROC had already implemented the National Health Insurance (NHI) coupled with a nationwide health network, allowing Taiwanese to enjoy high-quality medical service for a low self-payment rate."
The premier especially emphasized the importance of relevant coordination measures to smooth promotion of the international health care industry. For example, there is public anxiety that promotion of such services would deplete the country's medical resources and thus dilute its medical quality, he said. To allay these fears, the government will train more medical personnel, and Jiang has instructed the Ministry of Education to cooperate with the MOHW on implementing the latter's blueprint for this effort.
The premier further pointed out that the MOHW has already formulated numerous other coordination measures, such as limiting the numbers of FEPZ international health care areas, medical institutes that can operate there and hours medical personnel may work there. The NHI will not apply within the FEPZs, and a feedback mechanism will require medical personnel working within the FEPZs to pay a special permission fee, which will be used primarily for taking care of disadvantaged groups.
However, to dispel possible doubts, the premier has directed the MOHW to strengthen communication with citizens and assure them that their own health care will not be affected. In this way, the public can extend support to such a measure and allow Taiwan's medical expertise and quality care to also serve the international community, he said.