The Ministry of Health and Welfare seeks to obtain a NT$60 billion (US$1.86 billion) budget for next year to preserve the quality of the nation’s healthcare, Minister of Health and Welfare Chiu Tai-yuan (邱泰源) said yesterday.
Chiu made the remarks at the Ministry of Environment, which was cohosting with the health ministry a “green medicine pioneer camp” for senior executives of healthcare facilities and medical associations.
The budget would address services such as expanding the eligibility of government-funded cancer screenings to more types of cancers, expanding a mental health counseling program to cover more age groups and subsidizing the National Health Insurance system to ensure reasonable payment point values, he said.
Photo: Wu Po-hsuan, Taipei Times
The ministry is reviewing all the healthcare services that people need for every stage of life from cradle to grave, and would subsidize the services that might lack sufficient funds, he added.
Meanwhile, Minister of Environment Peng Chi-ming (彭啟明) discussed the environmental impact of medical organizations.
While hospitals are not subject to carbon fee collection, they are big energy consumers and produce a lot of medical waste, Peng said.
An international organization has estimated that the healthcare industry emits about 4.4 percent of global greenhouse gases, he said.
The environmental ministry invited the senior executives of medical organizations and associations to the camp in hopes of promoting sustainable medicine, he said, adding that he hopes hospitals can initiate a carbon footprint verification, which could help them reduce energy use and save money.
The health ministry would help healthcare facilities raise awareness about net zero emissions and assist them in undergoing carbon footprint verification, Chiu said.
It would later help healthcare facilities train “seed” personnel and offer rewards to incentivize hospitals to achieve their goals, he said.
As the environmental ministry works with the recently formed National Climate Change Response Committee, the health ministry can work with the Healthy Taiwan Promotion Committee, which is to hold its first meeting on Thursday, he said.
“The vision of a healthy Taiwan is not an empty slogan,” Chiu said.
President William Lai (賴清德) in June announced the establishment of three national committees — the National Climate Change Response Committee, the Healthy Taiwan Promotion Committee and the National Whole-of-Society Resilience Committee — to address major global challenges.
Lai would serve as the convener of the committees, while the Healthy Taiwan Promotion Committee’s three deputy conveners are “Healthy Taiwan” forum convener and former National Cheng Kung University Hospital superintendent Chen Jyh-hong (陳志鴻), Institute for Biotechnology and Medicine Industry president and former Academia Sinica president Wong Chi-huey (翁啟惠), and Minister Without Portfolio and former minister of health Chen Shih-chung (陳時中).
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