Taiwan has been playing an active role in participating global health. Dr. Po-Chang Lee, Director General of Taiwan’s National Health Insurance Administration, who attended APEC Health Working Group (HWG) held in Papua New Guinea last year, said his talk on Taiwan’s National Health Insurance and new MediCloud technology received very positive responses from 20 APEC and other economies, and being granted a fund of US$100,000 for Taiwan to hold a NHI MediCloud International Conference in August this year.
During the 72nd WHA held in May this year, Taiwan’s health ministry delegation held several bilateral meetings with the US, European and Southeast Asian countries. Among all, during the meeting between Taiwan’s Health Minister Shih-Chung Chen and Alex Azar, United States Secretary of Health and Human Services, Taiwan’s presentation on NHI MediCloud, health records and imaging exchange among hospitals caught the attention from the US delegation the most. Many countries also expressed their interest in sending officials to participate Taiwan’s August APEC meeting to learn more about Taiwan’s NHI.
To cope with the government’s New Southbound Policy, and taking into consideration of the growing interests of Vietnamese health industry in Taiwan’s National Health Insurance (NHI) system and the experience of establishing medical information system. Dr. Shu-Ling Tsai, Deputy Director-General of Taiwan’s National Health Insurance Administration (NHIA), lead senior colleagues to organize a “Taiwan’s National Health Insurance Workshop” on June 17th in Hanoi. Under the support of Taiwan’s Ambassador Richard R.C. Shih in Vietnam, delegates from the National Health Insurance Administration shared the experiences of running the National Health Insurance program and establishing the MediCloud system, which successfully demonstrated Taiwan’s soft power in healthcare field to the audience and created a new milestone for the exchange and sharing of health care achievements between Taiwan and Vietnam.
Along with the vibrant economic growth in Vietnam, as of 2014, Vietnam’s total health expenditures in GDP reached 7%, which outraced many ASEAN countries. Data have shown the Vietnamese government began to invest in the healthcare sector. The abovementioned workshop was chaired by Dr. Shu-Ling Tsai, Deputy Director-General of Taiwan’s NHIA and joined by senior staff from the Planning Division, the Information System Division, Pharmaceutical and Medical Reviews Division, Distinguished Professor Hung-Yi Chiou, Director of Health and Clinical Research Data Center, Taipei Medical University, totaling 13 people. The Topic of this workshop included Taiwan’s NHI System, NHI MediCloud System, and Health Information Technology Applied in the Hospital, and etc.
In addition, delegates from Vietnam Health Ministry also shared their experience in implementing the Vietnamese health insurance system. Representatives from the public sector, hospitals, and universities brought forth their experience and perspectives, exchanging ideas vividly with all of the participants.
Taiwan’s NHI is Internationally Renowned
Achieving universal health coverage is the key to reach the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. Ever since its implementation 24 years ago, Taiwan’s NHI system has established a reputation worldwide. With a coverage ratio of greater than 99.9% and public satisfaction measured at 86.5%, Taiwan’s NHI system was ranked 14th in The Economist’s Global Access to Healthcare Index in 2017 and 9th among 56 main economic bodies in Bloomberg Finance’s Health Care Efficiency Index in 2018.
Creating New Opportunities Together
Director General Po-Chang Lee said, the first- ever NHI workshop held in Vietnam has promoted effectively a deeper understanding of NHI and medical information system among officials, scholars, and experts from the health fields of Taiwan and Vietnam. Taiwan has demonstrated its soft power in health care, enlarged the possibilities of cooperating with New Southbound countries and looked forward to working together for the health and wellbeing of the people in Vietnam and Taiwan.
The above picture shows the deputy director of the nation from Health Insurance Administration of Taiwan’s, Cai Shuling (pictured), leading a colleague to Vietnam to hold a health insurance workshop, and taking photos with Dang Hong Nam, deputy director of the Social Insurance Department of the Ministry of Health of Vietnam (the fifth person from the left).
The above picture shows the Taiwan’s National Health Insurance and Medical Information Exchange Workshop held in Hanoi, Vietnam yesterday. After the meeting, all the participants took a group photo.
Pictured above is Viet Nam News, the largest English-language newspaper in Vietnam. The headline news published health care for the whole people.
