Over the past eight years the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) has achieved outstanding results in various health care measures, Premier Mao Chi-kuo affirmed at today's Cabinet meeting after an MOHW briefing on the subject.
The ROC is among the most advanced countries in the world in numerous health promotion indices, such as breastfeeding, tobacco control and prevention, cancer screening, and elderly-friendly cities, Mao said. The nation has kept many emerging infectious diseases outside its borders, including H7N9 avian influenza, the Ebola virus, and Middle East respiratory syndrome, thanks to its epidemic prevention systems and transnational collaboration.
The revised Tobacco Hazards Prevention Act that came into force in 2009 has lowered adults' smoking rate by one-fourth and reduced the number of smokers in Taiwan by 890,000. This performance was ranked third globally and on par with European countries.
The MOHW pointed out that it has enriched medical services in remote villages and townships and increased the willingness of doctors to serve in the five major departments: internal medicine, surgery, gynecology and obstetrics, pediatrics, and emergency treatment. The quality of the nation's hospice palliative care is ranked first in Asia and sixth worldwide.
In addition, the MOHW has participated in the World Health Assembly and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Health Working Group, bolstering medical diplomacy.
As for National Health Insurance (NHI) reforms, the MOHW has balanced the budget—the system now runs a surplus rather than a deficit—while improving NHI care for the disadvantaged, drastically lowering NHI-card suspensions, and enriching medical services in remote areas. In addition, the MOHW has promoted smart health care through such measures as storing patients' medical history in a "cloud bank" and issuing health passbooks.
In response to the low birthrate and aging of society, the administration must incorporate population policy to keep advancing various health care measures, the premier advised. He enjoined the MOHW to continue to collaborate with relevant agencies based on the foundation of existing accomplishments, join track with the international community, make good use of information and communications technology, realize the ideal of lifelong holistic health care and strive for even better health and welfare for all nationals.