The NHIA was awarded with 2022 PwC's Sustainability Impact Awards - Bronze Award in the Social Innovation Category for its special video “Eliminating Hepatitis C through the Power of Technology; NHI for a Sustainable Taiwan” this year. The video shows how the NHIA has used digital technology to build its NHI MediCloud and actively supports the comprehensive coverage of new hepatitis C drugs. The NHIA has also determined to completely eliminate hepatitis C by 2025 as a dedicated response to the UN SGDs.
The PwC's Sustainability Impact Award is organized by Pricewaterhousecoopers Sustainability Services Company Ltd. and the official Taiwan representative of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. The award centers on the concept of “using the power of stories to create impact." Solutions to sustainable issues are showcased though videos, with the intent of spurring change and making a positive impact on society, as well as echoing the SDGs. The NHIA was selected from among 20 participating organizations, including governments and social enterprises, and was even awarded for two consecutive years, abundantly showing the success of the NHIA in eliminating hepatitis C through the power of technology.
The prevalence of hepatitis C in Taiwan is about 2-4%, higher than the rates of neighboring East Asian countries. In order to achieve the national goal to eliminate hepatitis C by 2025, the NHIA has used the NHI MediCloud, to which it added a "Hepatitis B, C Area” to collect information of medical treatments, medications, and tests and examinations of hepatitis C patients from different medical institutions, allowing physicians to quickly and effectively understand the course of treatment of hepatitis C patients and making their treatments uninterrupted. Meanwhile, according to statistics from the NHIA, as much as 97% of medical institutions are using the NHI MediCloud, with a monthly average of 35 million inquiries. As of August 2022, 13,000 medical professionals were using the new "Hepatitis B, C Area,” and the total number of inquiries was 1.67 million.
At the same time, the NHIA has included oral hepatitis C drugs in the NHI formulary and gradually relax eligibility requirements. As of the end of July 2022, there were 1,083 institutions which participated in the use of the oral drugs, 220,000 people have been treated, and the treatment success rate is as high as 98.4%.
Dr. Po-Chang Lee, Director General of the NHIA, said that the national policy to eliminate hepatitis C of the NHIA is in line with the UN’s SDGs, namely Good Health and Well-being, Reduced Inequalities, and Partnerships for the Goals. The NHIA hopes that Taiwan's experience combining digital technology with new medical technology to successfully control hepatitis C can be provided for the reference of the world. In the future, the NHIA will make good use of medical resources, move towards sustainable operations, and wholeheartedly work to protect the health of the 23 million people of Taiwan.
View the NHIA's Award-Winning Video "Eliminating Hepatitis C through the Power of Technology; NHI for a Sustainable Taiwan," please go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxAuX3pmaoU.