The official restructuring of the Department of Health as the Ministry of Health and Welfare was completed yesterday, with the integration of resources and the establishment of the Social and Family Affairs Administration and the Department of Social Insurance being the major changes made, the ministry said.
The Bureau of National Health Insurance has become the National Health Insurance Administration (NHIA) and the Bureau of Health Promotion is now the Health Promotion Administration.
The Centers for Disease Control and the Food and Drug Administration will keep the names, but are now a notch higher in the bureaucratic hierarchy.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
Other notable changes are the incorporation of the Social and Family Affairs Administration and the Department of Social Insurance.
The former has integrated the bodies that are in charge of the welfare of women, senior citizens and people with disabilities that were previously under the Ministry of Interior’s Department of Social Affairs, as well as the Child Welfare Bureau, which was also previously under the interior ministry.
The goal of the administration is the implementation of a family and community-centered total care system, the agency said.
The social insurance department, on the other hand, has been restructured to have a better and more comprehensive grip on the three major social insurances, the NHI, the national pension and long-term care insurance.
The integration of resources made possible by the restructuring, among other tasks, is “to break the cycle of poverty-made illness and illness-made poverty and to provide better care for elderly people in an aging society,” the ministry said.
That is to be achieved by strengthening social insurance, developing a long-term care system, building healthcare and welfare clouds for comprehensive care, upgrading medical services in rural areas and connecting the public health and social resources provided at the central level and those at the local level to build an all-encompassing social security network, the ministry said.
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
LOOKING NORTH: The base would enhance the military’s awareness of activities in the Bashi Channel, which China Coast Guard ships have been frequenting, an expert said The Philippine Navy on Thursday last week inaugurated a forward operating base in the country’s northern most province of Batanes, which at 185km from Taiwan would be strategically important in a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait. The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Northern Luzon Command Commander Lieutenant General Fernyl Buca as saying that the base in Mahatao would bolster the country’s northern defenses and response capabilities. The base is also a response to the “irregular presence this month of armed” of China Coast Guard vessels frequenting the Bashi Channel in the Luzon Strait just south of Taiwan, the paper reported, citing a
A total lunar eclipse, an astronomical event often referred to as a “blood moon,” would be visible to sky watchers in Taiwan starting just before midnight on Sunday night, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said. The phenomenon is also called “blood moon” due to the reddish-orange hue it takes on as the Earth passes directly between the sun and the moon, completely blocking direct sunlight from reaching the lunar surface. The only light is refracted by the Earth’s atmosphere, and its red wavelengths are bent toward the moon, illuminating it in a dramatic crimson light. Describing the event as the most important astronomical phenomenon
UNDER PRESSURE: The report cited numerous events that have happened this year to show increased coercion from China, such as military drills and legal threats The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) aims to reinforce its “one China” principle and the idea that Taiwan belongs to the People’s Republic of China by hosting celebratory events this year for the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, the “retrocession” of Taiwan and the establishment of the UN, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said in its latest report to the Legislative Yuan. Taking advantage of the significant anniversaries, Chinese officials are attempting to assert China’s sovereignty over Taiwan through interviews with international news media and cross-strait exchange events, the report said. Beijing intends to reinforce its “one China” principle
RSS