The government is launching the third iteration of its long-term healthcare program ahead of schedule next year, proposing an integrated health policy that would apply to people, animals, plants and the environment, President William Lai (賴清德) said following a meeting of the government’s Healthy Taiwan Promotion Committee yesterday.
The early implementation of the long-term healthcare program is due to Taiwan’s status as a hyper-aged society, Lai said.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare has a detailed plan to address the challenges facing long-term healthcare, so that the elderly can age healthily, remain in their homes, and enjoy hospice and palliative care until their deaths, Lai said.
Photo: Huang Mei-chu, Taipei Times
The government should achieve this through forward-looking and effective policies, use of “smart” technology, providing effective support for families of the elderly and empowering care facilities, Lai said.
Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Lu Chien-te (呂建德) said that the implementation of the long-term healthcare policy next year aims to provide better support for families in need and reduce the number of days between a patient’s hospital discharge and the start of care by the program, which is currently four days, down from 51 when the previous version was first introduced.
The ministry hopes that the transition would be seamless by 2030, Lu said, adding that the interim goal is to reduce the transition period to two days by next year.
Under the revised program, at-home care for acute symptoms would be expanded to provide long-term home health to those in need, Lu said.
In addition to the challenges posed by a hyper-aged society, contagious diseases, climate change and changes to ecological systems have affected the health of not only humans, but also plants and animals, Lai said.
Lai said Taiwan should observe the WHO’s “One Health” concept and recognize that the “health of humans, domestic and wild animals, plants, and the wider environment (including ecosystems) are closely linked and interdependent,” and propose policies and frameworks that would allow the government to better protect Taiwanese.
Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) said that the ministry has budgeted NT$1.6 billion (US$51.1 million) to observe the “One Health” concept from next year through 2030.
The government has implemented a ministry-level platform to coordinate and develop plans to address the possibility of composite disasters caused by contagious diseases, climate change and antibiotic resistance, which the committee would oversee, he said.
The government would assess Taiwan’s capabilities to prevent contagious diseases and its response speed compared with the rest of the international community to develop precisely crafted policies and systems, Chuang added.
Additional reporting by Chiu Chih-jou
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