Taipei Times
By Lu Yi-hsuan and William Hetherington / Staff reporter, with staff writer
Taiwanese medical organizations should seek to improve cooperation with peers in the US, Premier Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) told a forum in Taipei on Monday.
Chen made the statement during a speech at a forum on Taiwan-US cooperation in the medical field held by the North American Taiwanese Medical Association (NATMA).
NATMA makes important contributions to the Taiwanese community in the US, and is at the forefront of the fight for Taiwan to gain participation in the WHO, he said.
Commenting on a delegation to Taiwan of Taiwanese-American doctors led by NATMA, Chen said that such interactions could bolster bilateral cooperation in the medical industry.
Taiwan’s achievements in medical treatment could be shared with US healthcare professionals, he added.
For example, the Indigenous Peoples’ Health Care Act (原住民族健康法), passed last month, demonstrated Taiwan’s commitment to equal access to healthcare, Chen said.
In Numbeo’s global Health Care Index by Country, Taiwan has ranked first for four consecutive years due in part to its emphasis on equal access to high-quality healthcare, he said.
Despite Taiwan’s exclusion from the WHO, the country’s achievements in healthcare, which include providing medical assistance and training within the global community, its experience in combating the spread of infectious diseases during pandemics, and its research and development of vaccines and drugs show that “Taiwan can help,” he said.
Cooperation with the US improved during the COVID-19 pandemic through the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on medical exchanges signed in 2020, he said, adding that the MOU paved the way for further cooperation.
On a global scale, both countries could be good partners in bolstering health security, providing emergency medical care, preventing the spread of infectious diseases, achieving developments in digital health and combating chronic diseases, he said.
Taiwan is also playing an important role in the US’ cancer prevention and control plan, he added.
Chen described the US as being a leader in medical education and the medical industry as a whole, saying that the US and Taiwan shared this prowess in medicine.
Describing an area of the industry where Taiwan excels, Chen said that Taiwanese medical researchers understand the growing importance of artificial intelligence in the field of medical care.
Big data stored in databases by the National Health Insurance Administration have helped researchers study the relationship between genes and diseases, he said.
Taiwan and the US could make great advances in such research with greater cooperation, he said.
