Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Willian Lai on Dec. 16 said that what distinguishes him from other presidential hopefuls is that he is prioritizing improving the people’s health as his greatest contribution to Taiwan’s society, and that he plans to collaborate with medical experts to build a healthier and stronger nation, while speaking at an annual news conference of the Taiwan Association of Children with Severe Disease.

The presidential candidate said that while Taiwan’s healthcare is globally renowned, due to limited resources, interdisciplinary collaboration within the same institution and across institutions of different scales should be improved. He also promised to establish a ten-billion-dollar new cancer drug fund to ease the financial burden of families with cancer patients and improve access to effective cancer drug treatments.

Separately, representatives of the presidential tickets of the three main political parties on Dec. 14 attended the “Investing in Healthcare, Aligning with international Standards” forum to share their candidates’ respective visions of healthcare investment in Taiwan. Apart from the DPP’s Legislator Wu Yu-chin who listed establishing establishment of a ten-billion-new cancer drug fund, Taiwan People’s Party Legislator-at-large and vice presidential candidate Wu Hsin-ying advocated for a sovereign wealth fund, while Kuomintang Legislator-at-large nominee Su Ching-chuan proposed waiving National Health Insurance premiums for individuals aged 65 and above and children between ages between 0 and 6.

[2023-12-16/SET News]