Taiwan has always actively sought participation in global health and medical care affairs, National Health Insurance Administration (NHIA) Director-General Lee Po-chang said, noting that Taiwan’s presentations on the National Health Insurance program and the cloud-based medical information technology were well received by 20 other member economies during APEC’s Health Working Group meeting at Papua New Guinea and garnered US$100,000 in funding from the organization. An international forum is scheduled to be held in Taiwan to discuss cloud-based medical solutions.
In line with the government’s New Southbound Policy and the high level of interest shown by APEC representatives from Vietnam towards Taiwan’s cloud-based medical information system and national health insurance scheme, NHIA Deputy Director-General Tsai Shu-ling led a delegation of senior officials to speak at the “Taiwan’s National Health Insurance Workshop” in Hanoi, Vietnam. With the tremendous help given by Taiwan’s Representative to Vietnam, Ambassador Richard Shih, the NHIA shared Taiwan’s experience in building a national health insurance program and a cloud-based medical information system with Vietnamese officials and medical professionals to mark a new milestone in exchanges between the two sides.
Taiwan’s world-renowned national health insurance system
Achieving universal health coverage that prevents the economic burdens of diseases is an important part of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals. Since the establishment of Taiwan’s National Health Insurance scheme 24 years ago, the program has since garnered 99.9 percent enrollment rate and 86.5 percent satisfaction rate to become the envy of the world. In 2017, the Economist ranked Taiwan’s National Health Insurance scheme at 14th in terms of accessibility, while a study conducted by Bloomberg BusinessWeek in 2018 found that compared to 56 other major economies, Taiwan’s medical care efficiency has improved to its best in recent years. To ensure the efficient utilization of healthcare resources and improve medical care standards, the NHIA built the NHI MediCloud System to ensure drug safety and efficiency by cutting wastage.
New opportunities through Taiwan-Vietnam collaboration
Director General Lee Po-chang said that the NHIA’s workshop in Hanoi, Vietnam helped deepen mutual understanding between government departments, experts, scholars and medical professionals from the two sides. The event was also an opportunity for Taiwan to showcase its soft power in medical and healthcare, cultivate closer ties with the global network as well as enabling closer collaborations between Taiwanese health authorities and their counterparts in New Southbound Policy countries in striving to improve the welfare of all peoples.
【2019-06-18 / MOHW】
