A mental support program launched this year has aided more than 20,000 people, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday at the second meeting of the Healthy Taiwan Promotion Committee, adding that the government would collaborate with the private sector to promote mental resilience.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare has been implementing the committee’s policies since the first meeting, Lai said in his opening remarks.
For example, three artificial intelligence (AI) centers were set up early last month to ensure accountable AI applications in medical services, facilitate the validation of AI-powered medical products and evaluate National Health Insurance (NHI) reimbursements for AI-powered medical services, Lai said.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
Citing the WHO as saying that there is “no health without mental health,” Lai said the government would invest more resources in the field in response to a rapidly changing society.
The mental support program has been expanded to include people aged 31 to 45 on top of those aged 15 to 30, and it has served more than 20,000 people since it was launched three months ago, he said.
Much still needs to be done to achieve national mental resilience, and the government should lead collaborations with the private sector to look after every person, Lai said.
Meanwhile, as cancer has been the leading cause of death in Taiwan for 42 years in a row, the government has set a goal of reducing its standardized mortality rate by one-third by 2030, he said, adding that screening and therapy methods must be improved to meet this goal.
Screenings subsidized by the government for five cancers — colon, cervical, breast, lung and stomach — last year have been used by 4.87 million people, identifying about 11,000 cases and 52,000 precancerous cases, Lai said.
He said that NT$4 billion (US$123 million) would be added next year to boost the cancer screening budget to NT$6.8 billion, so that its scope could be expanded.
A budget of NT$5 billion would also be allocated next year in line with the scheme to set up a fund for new cancer medicines, Lai said.
The fund would be ratcheted up to NT$10 billion to subsidize payments for new cancer drugs and ease the financial burden on patients, he added.
To facilitate personalized therapeutic strategies tailored to patients’ needs, the government has included next-generation sequencing in NHI reimbursements in an effort to promote precision medicine, Lai said.
By broadening the scope of screening and enhancing therapeutic methods, the government would make Taiwanese healthier, he said.
Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Lin Ching-yi (林靜儀) said the agency would discuss the feasibility of establishing mental health leave for public servants, especially for those working in high-risk units like the Ministry of National Defense and the Ministry of the Interior.
Mental wards dedicated to teenagers and children are under construction to promote their mental health, she said, adding that procedures for the medical referral of high-risk students would be formulated jointly with the Ministry of Education, she said.
The mental support program would be stepped up to target pregnant women, people with cancer and family caregivers, with the aim of increasing the service’s capacity threefold, Lin said.
The subsidy for drug and alcohol addiction therapies would be increased to aid more people, with the goal of tripling the service’s capacity by 2028, she said, adding that the budget for psychological hygiene research would also be boosted threefold by 2028.
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