Professor Dinesh Bhugra, President of the World Psychiatric Association;
Dr. Frank Huang-Chih Chou (周煌智), President of the Taiwanese Society of Psychiatry;
Dr. Ching-Chuan Su (蘇清泉), President of the Taiwan Medical Association;
Dr. Ming-Neng Shiu (許銘能), Vice Minister of the Ministry of Health and Welfare;
Dr. Hsiung Kuang-hua (熊光華), Deputy Secretary-General to the President;
Honored guests;
Ladies and gentlemen,
Good afternoon!
I'm very happy to be here today for the opening ceremony of the 2015 World Psychiatric Association International Congress. Let me begin by extending a very warm welcome on behalf of the government and people of the Republic of China.
The World Psychiatry Association (WPA) was established back in 1950. As a global non-profit organization with member societies in 117 countries, the WPA is dedicated to enhancing professional knowledge and skills, and advocating for the care of the mentally ill. In addition to organizing the World Congress of Psychiatry every three years in a designated country, the WPA also organizes international and regional congresses and meetings, as well as thematic conferences.
Taiwan is known around the world for the quality of its medical care, so interaction between Taiwan and international healthcare organizations is essential. So in 2008, after an absence of 38 years, we were happy to return to the World Health Assembly (WHA), and participate in International Health Regulations (IHR) activities. That return was a milestone that reopened communication between Taiwan and the international healthcare community. We have now participated in the WHA for seven consecutive years in an official capacity at the ministerial level, under an appropriate name, and with equal treatment, while communicating directly with the relevant organization personnel and our fellow participants.
Today's meeting is an opportunity for Taiwan's psychiatric professionals to talk about domestic developments, and share our achievements with psychiatrists from around the world. We also hope these exchanges will have even greater significance by paving the way for cooperation between medical societies at home and abroad, and contributing to Taiwan's participation in international organizations, and the health and wellbeing of the global community.
According to the report on mental health published by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2001, one out of four people worldwide may suffer from a mental health problem during their lifetime. Here in Taiwan, data from our National Health Insurance program shows that in 2014, 2.51 million citizens sought treatment for mental illnesses of all types. So clearly, the mental health of our citizens is an issue of great concern.
Taiwan's mental health policies have steadily evolved over the past three decades. We have thus actively promoted mental health initiatives, a National Medical Network Plan, and mental illness prevention and treatment programs, while also fortifying mental health care and rehabilitation facilities. Before our Medical Network Plan was implemented in 1985, mental health facilities were generally inadequate. But Phase Six of the network plan saw mental health care resources grow every year, and we are close to reaching our goal of 10 beds for acute and chronic mental illness per 10,000 population. In 1995 Taiwan had 2,999 dedicated personnel working in mental health institutions, including psychiatrists, nurses, social workers, and psychologists. But by 2014, that number had almost tripled to 8,691. In 1995, there were 139 beds providing community mental rehabilitation services. By July of this year, there were 8,621 beds—a 60-fold increase over 20 years.
At the same time, we have been promoting community care for mental health patients. Community care includes outreach services like community mental health bulletins and follow-up, as well as personal care visits. We are also setting up community care institutions with both daycare and residential services, providing independent work, life skills, and functional training services. These services are dedicated to helping mental health patients function in everyday life, and gradually return to their communities.
So that's how we're pursuing ideal solutions to community mental health issues. Of course, in practice, it's not so easy. Some communities reject the presence of social welfare organizations. Some communities are unwilling to actively help those organizations and patients. But through education and communication, we hope the outside world will come to understand that mental illness is not something to be feared, so that we can all work together to help patients recover, and lead normal lives.
I trust that you will all come away from this conference with the most up-to-date professional psychiatric knowledge, opening up new possibilities in the mental health field. Conferences like this provide an invaluable platform for international exchange and communication that contributes to mental health for one and all.
May you all enjoy good health, continued professional achievement, and a very successful conference.
Ladies and gentlemen, when I was Taipei City mayor I attached a lot of importance to the prevention of suicide. I became president in the year of 2008, and simultaneously I was an honorary president of the Taiwan Lifeline International. So we started to try our best to reduce the number of victims of suicide. Actually, the height was in 2006, we have 4,406. Last year the number went down to 3,500 or so. So we cut the figure by about 900. And beginning about four years ago, suicide is no longer one of the ten major causes of death. So we will continue to work to make your specialty really work in our society.
Last but not least, it is not easy for you to come to Taiwan. So I, as president of this country, want to advise you to squeeze some time out of your busy schedule to enjoy the very rich cultural life of this country. I would recommend two places for you to go. One is the National Palace Museum where the art treasures of the past 4,000 years collected by at least 25 emperors are exhibited over there. So you will understand our past. For you to understand the modern daily life of our people, I would recommend that you visit one of the night markets in Taipei, where you will have a chance to taste a variety of exotic and tasty pastries. No matter what you do during your stay in Taiwan, please do as much shopping as possible to help invigorate our economy.
Once again, welcome to Taiwan, the Republic of China. Thank you very much.