The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) yesterday reiterated its determination to facilitate easy access to drugs to further promote responsible self-medication, which it said could save people time waiting in hospitals and clinics, and considerable National Health Insurance (NHI) spending.
“As of this month, the government has issued licenses for a total of more than 26,000 drugs, of which only 7,261 are non-prescription medications — which are required to be used under the guidance of either a physician or pharmacist — and 435 are over-the-counter drugs,” FDA division of medicinal products director Liu Li-ling (劉麗玲) told a press conference in Taipei yesterday morning.
Liu said that non-prescription drugs account for just 6 percent of the nation’s overall drug sales, compared with 20 percent in more developed countries.
As part of its efforts to increase accessibility to essential drugs, Liu said the administration plans to switch as many prescription medications to non-prescription ones as possible this year.
“For the moment, we have approved the reclassification of prescription medications containing 13 kinds of ingredients, including painkillers, anti-allergy agents and gastrointestinal drugs,” Liu said. “The reclassification process is expected to be complete in June.”
Citing US research, Division of Medicinal Products section head Lien Heng-jung (連恆榮) said it is estimated that for every US$1 spent on over-the-counter drugs, the healthcare system saves about US$6 in costs.
“While non-prescription and over-the-counter drugs are not necessarily cheaper than the NT$200 average cost of a hospital visit, responsible self-medication can make the nation’s healthcare system more financially stable in the long run and in turn reduce the possibility of another NHI premium increase,” Lien said.
Lien said the policy is to be supplemented with several measures, such as making instructions for use of non-prescription drugs more comprehensible to the general public; listing an internship at a community pharmacy as a graduation requirement for pharmacology students; and incorporating self-medication information in textbooks for elementary and junior-high school students.
Another policy designed to improve access to drugs is set to take effect in March at the earliest, allowing licensed pharmaceutical companies to sell online type-B over-the-counter medicines, which can be sold in general stores, Lien said.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Many Japanese couples are coming to Taiwan to obtain donated sperm or eggs for fertility treatment due to conservatism in their home country, Taiwan’s high standards and low costs, doctors said. One in every six couples in Japan is receiving infertility treatment, Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare data show. About 70,000 children are born in Japan every year through in vitro fertilization (IVF), or about one in every 11 children born. Few people accept donated reproductive cells in Japan due to a lack of clear regulations, leaving treatment in a “gray zone,” Taichung Nuwa Fertility Center medical director Wang Huai-ling (王懷麟)
PROXIMITY: Prague is closer to Dresden than Berlin is, so Taiwanese firms are expected to take advantage of the Czech capital’s location, the Executive Yuan official said Taiwan plans to boost cooperation with the Czech Republic in semiconductor development due to Prague’s pivotal role in the European IC industry, Executive Yuan Secretary-General Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said. With Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) building a wafer fab in the German city of Dresden, a Germany-Czech Republic-Poland “silicon triangle” is forming, Kung said in a media interview on the weekend after returning from a visit to Prague. “Prague is closer to Dresden than Berlin is, so Taiwanese firms are expected to take advantage of the Czech capital’s location,” he said. “Taiwan and Prague have already launched direct flights and it is