Lee Ming-liang (李明亮), director-general of the Depart-ment of Health (DOH), came under the spotlight last week as Premier Yu Shyi-kun confirmed Lee's intention to resign and the DOH disclosed its plan to hike the Bureau of National Health Insur-ance's out-patient fees.
Lee, 66, who is on a two-year leave from the Buddhist Tzu Chi University (
PHOTO: GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES
According to Lee, after serving in the DOH for nearly two years, he revealed his intention to leave his post to return to the university when the new Cabinet was formed in February.
"Ever since I mentioned it [the resignation] to the president and the premier, they had urged me to stay," he said. "It is unfair for [the local media] to say that I am forced to leave due to political reasons when they actually asked me to stay."
Lee was indignant about the public attacks on the plan to raise fees, saying critics don't understand the intention of the proposed measure.
"Those who care only about ballots came after us with scathing attacks. But who will be responsible if the Bureau of National Health Insurance goes bankrupt?" Lee asked.
After graduating from the School of Medicine at National Taiwan University in 1962, Lee went to the US and devoted himself to medical research and teaching for nearly 30 years.
In 1969, Lee obtained a doctorate in molecular biology and biochemistry from the University of Miami. With expertise in pediatrics and genetics, he worked as a professor of pediatrics and as the chief of the medical genetics division at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Jersey from 1977 to 1993.
In 1993, at the invitation of Master Cheng Yeng (證嚴法師), founder of the Buddhist Compassionate Relief Tzu Chi Foundation (慈濟功德會), Lee decided to return to Taiwan to assist Cheng in establishing Tzu Chi University.
The foundation is a Buddhist charity established in 1966 and concentrates on education, medicine, culture and international humanitarian aid.
Although Lee is not a Buddhist, he said he served at the university for almost eight years because he "identifies with the ideals of Master Cheng Yen and her Tzu Chi Foundation."
In 2000, when Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) was elected president, Chen urged Cheng Yen to allow Lee to leave the university to lead the nation's top health organization. Lee was granted a two-year leave to serve as the director-general of the DOH from May 2000.
"Although being president of a medical college and the head of the DOH are quite different, my goal has remained the same -- to promote a healthy lifestyle for the public," Lee said.
Often described by the media as a low-key scholar working among politicians, the soft-spoken director-general said that promoting prevention-oriented health education to the public has been his top priority at the DOH.
"Promoting health education, unlike building public infrastructure, is a long-term endeavor without immediate success. Since those who need to win elections would not want to waste time on it, it is our duty to promote health education, which is the basis for improving the quality of medial care in Taiwan."
According to Lee, although Taiwan has enjoyed outstanding achievements in advanced medical technology, the people's aware-ness of prevention-oriented healthcare -- which is essential for a healthy community -- has not fully developed.
"We [the DOH] want to help people understand that managing their health, rather than looking for better treatment, is the key to a healthier life."
Besides promoting public health education during his term at the DOH, Lee also led delegations to Geneva to push for Taiwan's admission to the WHO. Although the goal has not been realized, Lee's effort has been recognized by the public.
"I only picked up where my predecessors left off and fought for the benefit of Taiwan at the international forum," the director-general said.
Lee's close friends praised his performance at the DOH.
"Lee is a benevolent scholar who really cares about the welfare of the people," said Huang Fu-Yuan (黃富源), the former deputy director-general of the DOH and Lee's close friend.
Huang also said that Lee always mentioned the Buddhist teaching of "all lives are equal" when delivering speeches or when conversing with colleagues in the department.
Indeed, after Lee took over at the DOH, he immediately put up notes on the bulletin board asking colleagues not to be afraid of him or keep him at a distance just because he is the director-general of the department.
In a bid to promote organ donation in Taiwan, Lee asked his wife to be an advocate for the practice by having her sign an organ-donation card.
"The atmosphere in the DOH has changed since Lee joined. The human interactions within the department have become frequent and warm," Huang said.
On hearing Huang's comment, Lee said that the sense of humanity is actually the catalyst in managing the national health system.
"A genuinely healthy society requires not only physical health, but also mental and psychological health," he explained.
"Without the human component, the [health] system would be cold, detached and its improvement would be limited."
Asked about his plans for the future, the director-general smiled and said that life could not be planned. Nevertheless, he hoped to be able to spend some time with his wife and three daughters once he leaves public office.
"Although I dare not boast about what I have done for Taiwan, I hope I can spend some time with my family before I get too old to walk around and think clearly," he said.
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