Premier William Lai (賴清德) yesterday said the he hopes the healthcare sector could cooperate with the government to enhance the nation’s long-term care services and the biotechnology industry, and to introduce more information technology to medical administration.
Lai made the remarks while delivering the opening speech of the two-day annual conference of the Formosan Medical Association.
The association is the oldest local medical group, having been established 115 years ago, and is dedicated to promoting medical education and enhancing medical research, Lai said, adding that this annual conference was its 110th, and local as well as overseas medical specialists were invited to attend.
Photo: CNA
In his speech, Lai briefly introduced the two main topics of this year’s conference: National Health Insurance (NHI) payment principles for cancer medication and food safety.
“Cancer has ranked No. 1 among the 10 leading causes of death in Taiwan for 35 consecutive years and approximately 650,000 people receive cancer treatment each year,” Lai said.
NHI expenditure on cancer treatments has increased from NT$60.7 billion (US$2.01 billion) in 2011 to NT$84.5 billion last year, while expenditure on cancer medication alone increased from NT$25.7 billion in 2012 to NT$32.2 billion last year — accounting for about 38 percent of the total cost of treatment, Lai said.
He said that this was not a small percentage and that he hoped to hear suggestions on the issue from the conference.
The “Five Links of Food Safety” program was initiated by President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration to enhance the nation’s food safety management, Lai said while addressing the second theme, adding that the government is to increase the annual food safety budget to NT$5 billion next year, from NT$4.5 billion this year.
In addition, he said the government is encouraging the healthcare sector to cooperate to achieve improvements in three areas: the Long-term Care Services Program 2.0, the biotechnology industry and medical administration informatization.
The biotechnology industry is included in the government’s ”five plus two” innovative industries program, Lai said, adding that the Executive Yuan has amended the Act for the Development of Biotech and New Pharmaceutical Industry (生技新藥產業發展條例) to loosen the standards for high-risk medical equipment.
The government has also amended the Fundamental Science and Technology Act (科學技術基本法) to encourage academic researchers to apply their research results to the biotechnology industry, Lai said, adding that Academia Sinica’s National Biotechnology Research Park is expected to begin operation next year.
Finally, Lai said the government hopes to improve medical administration by introducing more technology and using information technology to reduce unnecessary healthcare expenditure and provide better healthcare to patients.
‘NON-RED’: Taiwan and Ireland should work together to foster a values-driven, democratic economic system, leveraging their complementary industries, Lai said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday expressed hopes for closer ties between Taiwan and Ireland, and that both countries could collaborate to create a values-driven, democracy-centered economic system. He made the remarks while meeting with an Irish cross-party parliamentary delegation visiting Taiwan. The delegation, led by John McGuinness, deputy speaker of the Irish house of representatives, known as the Dail, includes Irish lawmakers Malcolm Byrne, Barry Ward, Ken O’Flynn and Teresa Costello. McGuinness, who chairs the Ireland-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Association, is a friend of Taiwan, and under his leadership, the association’s influence has grown over the past few years, Lai said. Ireland is
FINAL COUNTDOWN: About 50,000 attended a pro-recall rally yesterday, while the KMT and the TPP plan to rally against the recall votes today Democracy activists, together with arts and education representatives, yesterday organized a motorcade, while thousands gathered on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei in the evening in support of tomorrow’s recall votes. Recall votes for 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and suspended Hsinchu City mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) are to be held tomorrow, while recall votes for seven other KMT lawmakers are scheduled for Aug. 23. The afternoon motorcade was led by the Spring Breeze Culture and Arts Foundation, the Tyzen Hsiao Foundation and the Friends of Lee Teng-hui Association, and was joined by delegates from the Taiwan Statebuilding Party and the Taiwan Solidarity
A saleswoman, surnamed Chen (陳), earlier this month was handed an 18-month prison term for embezzling more than 2,000 pairs of shoes while working at a department store in Tainan. The Tainan District Court convicted Chen of embezzlement in a ruling on July 7, sentencing her to prison for illegally profiting NT$7.32 million (US$248,929) at the expense of her employer. Chen was also given the opportunity to reach a financial settlement, but she declined. Chen was responsible for the sales counter of Nike shoes at Tainan’s Shinkong Mitsukoshi Zhongshan branch, where she had been employed since October 2019. She had previously worked
An SOS message in a bottle has been found in Ireland that is believed to have come from the Taiwanese captain of fishing vessel Yong Yu Sing No. 18 (永裕興18號), who has been missing without a trace for over four years, along with nine Indonesian crew members. The vessel, registered to Suao (蘇澳), went missing near Hawaii on Dec. 30, 2020. The ship has since been recovered, but the 10 crew members have never been found. The captain, surnamed Lee (李), is believed to have signed the note with his name. A post appeared on Reddit on Tuesday after a man
RSS