Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (
Chang gave the directive after listening to a report by Minister of Health Lee Ming-liang (
Lee said that the number of confirmed carriers of HIV, the virus which causes AIDS, is expected to reach 40,000 by the year 2021 and that spending on AIDS patients under the National Health Insurance Program (NHIP) will likely amount to NT$100 billion (US$28.5 million) by then.
In response, Chang said the Department of Health's third-phase anti-AIDS program must follow general world trends and must be associated with similar world programs.
Chang also appointed Vice Premier Lai In-jaw (
In his report, Lee said that as of the end of last month, a total of 3,377 Taiwan nationals had been confirmed to have been infected with HIV and that 717 of them had already died of AIDS-related illnesses. The first confirmed HIV infection in Taiwan was reported in 1984.
According to Lee, the number of confirmed local HIV carriers has been growing at an annual rate of 20 percent. At this pace, he said, the number of reported HIV carriers will hit 15,000 by 2011 and some 40,000 by 2021.
Worse yet, Lee said, the actual number of HIV carriers could be five times the official figure.
According to Lee, the NHIP now offers AIDS patients medication free of charge. "In 2000 alone, spending on drugs for AIDS patients reached NT$500 million, or an average of NT$350,000 per patient," Lee said, adding that the average medical bill of an AIDS patient was 100 times that of the average citizen in 2000.
If the number of HIV carriers continues to grow at the present 20 percent pace, NHIP spending on AIDS patients will rise to an estimated NT$25 billion by 2011 and as high as NT$100 billion by 2021.
"If one factors in medical spending on unreported AIDS patients, the overall financial and social cost is even more alarming," he added.
Noting that the spread of AIDS is related to changes in society and individual behavior, Lee said that "preventing new HIV infections is not just a medical issue."
He pointed out that stopping the further spread of the deadly disease urgently requires the cooperation of various educational, cultural and social institutions, as well as inter-departmental cooperation.
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