The government values healthcare workers’ contributions to the country and will strive to improve their work environment, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said yesterday.
Ma told a seminar with staffers from Greater Kaohsiung’s Chang Gung Memorial Hospital that healthcare was a very taxing profession, as shown by the fact that only 130,000 out of a total of 190,000 people who have a healthcare license actually stay in the sector.
There have been deaths from overwork among medical interns and other healthcare workers, he said, and he promised to promote reforms on working hours, workload and pay for the sector.
Photo: Huang Chi-yuan, Taipei Times
Taiwan’s healthcare system was rated as the second-best in the world by The Economist magazine, mainly thanks to the national health insurance system, which reaches 99.4 percent of the population.
The nation’s excellent healthcare services and its active participation in international humanitarian medical missions have won it worldwide recognition, Ma said
When asked how he would boost government efficiency and address the development gap between northern and southern Taiwan, Ma said his administration has worked very hard to enhance its efficiency, but more needs to be done.
In the International Institute for Management Development’s (IMD) latest competitiveness report, the efficiency of Taiwan’s government was ranked 10th in the world, down four notches from the previous year. Government intervention in fuel prices was one reason cited by IMD for the downgrade.
That report highlights the government’s dilemma, since the public expects the government to curb fuel price increases, he said.
As for the development gap, the government will promote various development projects in southern Taiwan worth a total of NT$740 billion (US$25.7 billion) over the next few years as part of its efforts to narrow the regional gap, he said.
After the seminar, Ma participated in the unveiling of a statue of the late Wang Yung-ching (王永慶), who founded the Gang Gung Hospital network. The statue was erected in a park in the grounds of the hospital’s Greater Kaohsiung branch.
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