President Tsai attends International Forum on Quality and Safety in Healthcare
President Tsai Ing-wen attended the International Forum on Quality and Safety in Healthcare on the evening of September 18. She stated that Taiwan is more than willing to share our experiences with the rest of the world regarding our National Health Insurance, hospital accreditation system, patient safety reporting network, and community-based Long-term Care 2.0 Plan. She expressed hope that the exchanges and connections we make at the forum will help us work together to build a healthier tomorrow.
A transcript of the president's remarks follows:
It is an honor to be here at this year's International Forum on Quality and Safety in Healthcare. Since its inception in 1996, this forum has grown to become one of the largest of its kind in the world.
This year marks our first time, holding the fall forum in Taiwan, and I understand that there are more than 1200 experts from 25 countries participating in this event. I want to take a moment to welcome all of you to Taiwan. I also want to thank Chairperson Lin Chi-chen (林啟禎) for working so hard to make this event possible. I think he deserves a round of applause.
I trust that all of you are familiar with Taiwan's strengths in medicine, and how we are using them to make the world a healthier place. That is something that China cannot take away from us, even as they exclude us from the World Health Assembly on political grounds.
Taiwan has so much to share with the global medical community. Our National Health Insurance gives people equal access to quality healthcare. We have established a hospital accreditation system, as well as a patient safety reporting network. We are also working hard to promote our community-based Long-term Care System. And we are more than willing to share our experiences with the rest of the world.
I know that this forum will also focus on many new technologies in medicine, from AI to VR. This synergizes well with our 5+2 Industrial Innovation Program, which is working to develop new applications for IoT technology.
This forum will give us an opportunity to share how we are using these technologies across different fields. And I'm sure these discussions will spur new ideas and possibilities.
Our very own Vice President Dr. Chen Chien-jen—I’m sure you will have an opportunity to meet with him while you are here—he is a world-renowned public health expert himself. He has dedicated his career to serving Taiwan's medical community. And he will use his personal experience to share Taiwan's past, present, and future challenges in healthcare, and how we are dealing with them.
Of course, all of you here tonight know the importance of sharing global experiences. I hope that you will take the opportunity to learn from each other. The connections we make here today will help us work together to build a healthier tomorrow.
And finally, I would be remiss if I did not ask all of you to take some time to explore Taiwan, because we have so much to offer beyond, of course, outstanding medicine. And I'm sure that Taiwan's local customs, culture, and cuisine will make you plan your next trip to Taiwan very soon.
I want to close by wishing you all a very successful and rewarding forum. Thank you.
Among those present were Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), and Joint Commission of Taiwan Chairperson Lin.