The Taipei Association of Public Health Specialists was established yesterday at a ceremony at National Taiwan University’s College of Public Health, the first guild of public health specialists in Asia.
Vice President William Lai (賴清德), legislators, other government officials and more than 100 public health specialists attended the ceremony.
There are 197 certified public health specialists in Taiwan, the association said.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
Lai, who has a master’s degree in public health, told the ceremony that he was honored to witness the establishment of the first guild of public health specialists in Taiwan and has high hopes that the association would assist the government to make Taiwan a nation with greater biological resilience, prepared for the next epidemic or pandemic.
The concept of “public health specialists” was proposed during the SARS epidemic in 2003, but it took almost two decades for the Public Health Specialists Act (公共衛生師法) to be passed in 2020, Lai said, adding that the COVID-19 pandemic has shown Taiwanese society the importance of public health specialists.
Premier Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁), a public health specialist, addressed the ceremony via videoconference to congratulate the association for becoming the first guild of public health specialists in Asia.
Chen quoted Chen Kung-pei (陳拱北), a doctor who is regarded as “the father of public health in Taiwan,” saying: “A doctor saving one person at a time is inefficient, so they should save many people by promoting public health.”
Taiwan Public Health Association chairman Yang Chun-yuh (楊俊毓) said that public health can reflect a nation’s level of development, as all corners of society need it.
When there is a public health emergency, public health specialists can help protect lives, Yang said.
Hopefully, the guild would help public health specialists improve their professional skills and remain sensitive to problems, he said.
Chung Shan Medical University School of Public Health professor Wong Ruey-hong (翁瑞宏), who was elected as the association’s first president, said that the first national exam was held in 2021 according to provisions of the act.
Up to 100 people are certified each year and there are now 197 certified public health specialists in Taiwan, who play an important role in the public and private sectors, assisting in environmental health prevention and control, and disease investigation and analysis, Wong said.
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