Taiwan has an impressive record in public health and disease control policy implementation, which includes having an affordable and universal healthcare system, prompt and top-quality medical services, and 15 hospitals accredited by Joint Commission International.
Under the framework of the New Southbound Policy, the Office of Trade Negotiations in August last year outlined five flagship projects to ramp up international collaboration in innovative industries, among them medical cooperation and health-related industrial supply chains.
The project aims to leverage Taiwan’s soft power in healthcare and form stronger ties with New Southbound Policy partner nations, through expanding bilateral and regional collaborations, including offering professional training programs, promoting medicine and health-related industrial supply chains, building a regional disease prevention network, and working toward regulatory harmonization and standardized inspection techniques.
Photo courtesy of Changhua Christian Hospital
The Ministry of Health and Welfare on June 1 launched a one-year “One Country, One Center” program and commissioned the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (中華經濟研究院) and other think tanks to establish the Health and Welfare New Southbound Policy Project Office to assist in coordinating related tasks.
Under the project, seven large Taiwanese hospitals each formed six medical teams to act as the main coordinator for integrating local medical resources, and extending medical and healthcare cooperation with one of the six partner nations chosen for the project’s initial stage.
International Cooperation Office Technical Superintendent Hsu Min-huei (許明暉) said the New Southbound Policy is a comprehensive framework that uses abundant resources from different fields, so it must rely on teamwork across the public and private sectors to bring out the best outcomes.
Photo courtesy of the Centers for Disease Control
“The government plays the role of cheerleader or team leader at times, stepping in to help negotiate for better cooperation platforms when needed, but the real players are the private sector, including hospitals, and medical and health-related industries,” Hsu said.
The hospitals and the assigned nations are National Taiwan University Hospital serving Indonesia, National Cheng Kung University Hospital serving India, Changhua Christian Hospital serving Thailand, Changhua Show Chwan Memorial Hospital serving Malaysia, Hualien Tzu Chi Hospital serving the Philippines, and Taipei Veterans General Hospital and National Yang-Ming University serving Vietnam.
In a conference on healthcare cooperation and industrial chain development on Oct. 15 in Taipei, Hsu said many of the goals set for the “One Country, One Center” program have been achieved.
The hospitals have provided medical personnel training programs, offered health consultation services for overseas Taiwanese, and studied local health-related regulations and the market to customize feasible cooperation models and find business opportunities in each nation.
As India is the largest provider of generic medicines globally and might not need drug exports from Taiwan, Hsu said the medical needs of each nation are not the same, and the hospitals serve to help Taiwanese medical or health-related businesses find opportunities in overseas markets.
The requirements include medical materials, pharmaceutical products, telemedicine services, assistance in setting up a single-payer national health insurance system, and smart healthcare administration services, developing medical tourism and providing healthcare personnel training, he said.
A goal for this year was to train at least 119 healthcare professionals from partner nations and 148 professionals had been trained by the end of September, Hsu said.
Another goal was that at least 18 Taiwanese medical and health-related companies would assist hospitals in partner nations and 25 companies had provided assistance by the end of September, he added.
The goal of creating a cultural-friendly medical environment can be seen as several hospitals have established multi-faith prayer rooms, specialized outpatient clinics with qualified translators, and also put up multilingual signs, making it easier for new immigrants or international patients to receive treatment in Taiwan.
The program also aims to boost Taiwanese exports of pharmaceutical products and medical material, Hsu said, adding that a goal is to achieve annual growth of at least 20 percent in exports of synthetic bone graft substitutes and dental materials, and double the output value from foreign patients who seek healthcare services in Taiwan.
A total of 17 medical centers and large regional hospitals across the nation came together on June 26 to establish a “New Southbound Market Healthcare Union,” which aims to increase healthcare exchanges, personnel training, patient referrals, and exports of medical materials and devices to partner nations, facilitated by the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA).
TAITRA president and chief executive Walter Yeh (葉明水) said Ministry of Health and Welfare statistics show that there were 305,600 patients from other nations who received medical care in Taiwan in the past 10 years, a 10-fold increase compared with the previous decade, and that 33.17 percent were from Southeast Asian nations.
Department of Medical Affairs Director-General Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said in addition to having the seven designated hospitals responsible for coordinating resources and assisting each partner nation, help from other hospitals is needed to achieve the best results and the ministry has been working on easing the regulations to assist with healthcare interactions with partner nations.
The ministry in May implemented regulations allowing diagnosis and treatment through telemedicine by which patients in partner nations can receive medical consultations from Taiwanese healthcare practitioners.
Another regulation that approved six types of cell therapy in Taiwan was modified and implemented in September.
Moreover, restrictions were eased to allow foreign healthcare practitioners who are attending specialized training programs in teaching hospitals in Taiwan to directly attend to patients under certain approved conditions.
Healthcare practitioners who received professional training in Taiwan have helped lay the foundation for cooperation between Taiwan and their home nations, and international humanitarian assistance and volunteer medical missions provided by individual Taiwanese healthcare facilities have also contributed to sustaining ties, Hsu said.
Changhua Christian Hospital has had a close relationship with many Taiwanese businesspeople in Vietnam for many years as they receive checkups at the hospital regularly when they return to Taiwan and receive any follow-up treatment at the hospital’s Vietnamese partner, Ho Chi Minh City Medicine and Pharmacy University Hospital.
The hospital helped Shing Mark Enterprise Co Ltd, founded by a Taiwanese businessman in Vietnam, to establish the University Medical Shing Mark Hospital in Dong Nai Province in 2013, and it has medical and management teams at the Shing Mark hospital to assist in its operation.
The hospital also established a specialized window for assisting Taiwanese businesspeople in Vietnam seeking emergency medical treatment and trauma consultation during a series of anti-China protests in 2014, and performed free reconstructive surgery on a Chinese manager working in a Taiwanese company who was seriously injured in a riot.
The Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Thailand and the ministry in March launched an online “Taiwan-Thailand Medical and Health Care Exchange Service Platform,” introducing the strengths and services of 11 Taiwanese healthcare facilities to Thais.
The office also created an online chat group consisting of more than 100 hospitals, medical universities and health-related businesses in the two nations to facilitate direct communication.
Representative to Thailand Tung Chen-yuan (童振源) in April led a group of nearly 20 Taiwanese businesspeople based in Thailand and 16 Thai reporters to experience Changhua Christian Hospital’s executive health checkup service.
A 76-year-old Taiwanese businessman, who had been working in Thailand for 32 years, discovered he had a serious vascular occlusion during the visit and the visit saved his life.
Many Taiwanese businesspeople working in other nations find it difficult to seek medical attention due to language barriers, but now they can get health checkups when they return to Taiwan and continue to receive healthcare follow-ups at overseas collaborative hospitals, the hospital said.
In addition, the Centers for Disease Control in August commissioned National Taiwan University Hospital to establish the nation’s first “New Southbound Personnel Health Service Center.”
The center specializes in providing comprehensive services, including health checkups, infectious disease consultation and vaccination, chronic disease care and a hotline for people who are traveling to partner nations.
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