The Taipei Association of Public Health Specialists was established yesterday at a ceremony at National Taiwan University’s College of Public Health, the first guild of public health specialists in Asia.
Vice President William Lai (賴清德), legislators, other government officials and more than 100 public health specialists attended the ceremony.
There are 197 certified public health specialists in Taiwan, the association said.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
Lai, who has a master’s degree in public health, told the ceremony that he was honored to witness the establishment of the first guild of public health specialists in Taiwan and has high hopes that the association would assist the government to make Taiwan a nation with greater biological resilience, prepared for the next epidemic or pandemic.
The concept of “public health specialists” was proposed during the SARS epidemic in 2003, but it took almost two decades for the Public Health Specialists Act (公共衛生師法) to be passed in 2020, Lai said, adding that the COVID-19 pandemic has shown Taiwanese society the importance of public health specialists.
Premier Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁), a public health specialist, addressed the ceremony via videoconference to congratulate the association for becoming the first guild of public health specialists in Asia.
Chen quoted Chen Kung-pei (陳拱北), a doctor who is regarded as “the father of public health in Taiwan,” saying: “A doctor saving one person at a time is inefficient, so they should save many people by promoting public health.”
Taiwan Public Health Association chairman Yang Chun-yuh (楊俊毓) said that public health can reflect a nation’s level of development, as all corners of society need it.
When there is a public health emergency, public health specialists can help protect lives, Yang said.
Hopefully, the guild would help public health specialists improve their professional skills and remain sensitive to problems, he said.
Chung Shan Medical University School of Public Health professor Wong Ruey-hong (翁瑞宏), who was elected as the association’s first president, said that the first national exam was held in 2021 according to provisions of the act.
Up to 100 people are certified each year and there are now 197 certified public health specialists in Taiwan, who play an important role in the public and private sectors, assisting in environmental health prevention and control, and disease investigation and analysis, Wong said.
A relatively large earthquake may strike within the next two weeks, following a magnitude 5.2 temblor that shook Taitung County this morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. An earthquake struck at 8:18am today 10.2km west of Taitung County Hall in Taitung City at a relatively shallow depth of 6.5km, CWA data showed. The largest intensity of 4 was felt in Taitung and Pingtung counties, which received an alert notice, while areas north of Taichung did not feel any shaking, the CWA said. The earthquake was the result of the collision between the Philippine Plate and the Eurasian Plate, the agency said, adding
Snow fell in the mountainous areas of northern, central and eastern Taiwan in the early hours of yesterday, as cold air currents moved south. In the northern municipality of Taoyuan, snow started falling at about 6am in Fusing District (復興), district head Su Tso-hsi (蘇佐璽) said. By 10am, Lalashan National Forest Recreation Area, as well as Hualing (華陵), Sanguang (三光) and Gaoyi (高義) boroughs had seen snowfall, Su said. In central Taiwan, Shei-Pa National Park in Miaoli County and Hehuanshan National Forest Recreation Area in Nantou County saw snowfall of 5cm and 6cm respectively, by 10am, staff at the parks said. It began snowing
HOLIDAY EXERCISE: National forest recreation areas from north to south offer travelers a wide choice of sights to connect with nature and enjoy its benefits Hiking is a good way to improve one’s health, the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency said, as it released a list of national forest recreation areas that travelers can visit during the Lunar New Year holiday. Taking a green shower of phytoncides in the woods could boost one’s immunity system and metabolism, agency Director-General Lin Hwa-ching (林華慶) cited a Japanese study as saying. For people visiting northern Taiwan, Lin recommended the Dongyanshan National Forest Recreation Area in Taoyuan’s Fusing District (復興). Once an important plantation in the north, Dongyanshan (東眼山) has a number of historic monuments, he said. The area is broadly covered by
Global bodies should stop excluding Taiwan for political reasons, President William Lai (賴清德) told Pope Francis in a letter, adding that he agrees war has no winners. The Vatican is one of only 12 countries to retain formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, and Taipei has watched with concern efforts by Beijing and the Holy See to improve ties. In October, the Vatican and China extended an accord on the appointment of Catholic bishops in China for four years, pointing to a new level of trust between the two parties. Lai, writing to the pope in response to the pontiff’s message on Jan. 1’s
RSS