The Ministry of Health and Welfare yesterday unveiled details about a “health coin” program to reward people who have healthy practices with credits that could be exchanged for gifts.
Officials are designing the program in collaboration with health experts and are prioritizing the participation of adults, Health Promotion Administration Director-General Shen Ching-fen (沈靜芬) said.
The initiative would reward people who get vaccinated, undergo screenings for cancers and hepatitis B and C, and enroll in the adult preventive healthcare services system, she said.
Photo: Chiu Chih-jou, Taipei Times
Participants must fill out basic personal health information questionnaires, and each step would grant coins, Shen said.
The program was not rolled out last month as planned, as the integration of databases to provide the capability to verify coin-earning acts is taking longer than expected, Shen added.
The personnel responsible for this task are working to ensure that the data links are functional and secure, she said.
The National Health Insurance Administration has created a “health checkbook” portal that would allow Taiwanese to keep track of their health coin balance and preventive healthcare measures they can take part in, Shen said.
Separately, the Health Promotion Administration is preparing to develop health coin-related features in the Health Go mobile app to integrate these informational platforms, she said.
Agency officials are collaborating with the private sector, as several corporations have their own health app for employees, which could be linked to the government’s system to increase public participation, she said.
“Current efforts are focused on linking data and integrating systems, including interfacing different platforms and putting cybersecurity measures in place,” Shen said.
“We hope that the system helps people engage in preventive healthcare that would systematically promote public health,” she added.
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