Pharmaceutical News
Incoming Vice President Chen Chien-Jen stands behind precision medicine
2016/03/21

Dr Chen Chien-Jen, the incoming Vice President of Taiwan, praised precision medicine as amazing when he made a speech in the annual meeting of the Taiwan Surgical Association.  Dr Chen said that the LDCT lung cancer screening helped to identify a small tumour in his lung, and saved him from the threat of lung adenocarcinoma.  He mentioned that the NHI should make precision medicine widely available to the public.

 

Dr Chen said that he was not aware that he had early stage lung adenocarcinoma until he went through the LDCT screening.  He then received a minimally invasive surgery to remove the tumour and recovered in just a week.  This personal experience made him realize the importance of preventive medicine.  Early diagnosis helps alleviate patients’ suffering.  Therefore, the government should invest in surgical techniques, equipment and facilities, stressed Dr Chen.

 

Chen Chien-Jen said that when he was the Minster of the Department of Health (now the MOHW), he proposed increasing NHI premium. However, this proposal was not received well by the public. There was a concern over a surge of cost.  Dr Chen reckoned that the NHI premium should be reasonably adjusted every year on the condition of waste containment so that the NHIA can have more funds for preventive medicine.  The strong opposition to the DRGs system implemented by the current government is simply due to poor planning, said Dr Chen.

 

As the medical treatments become sophisticated, medical disputes will be more and more common.  Dr Chen said that he will consult medical and legal experts and formulate relevant regulations to improve the relationship between doctors and patients.

 

【2016-03-19/ United Daily News】