The Ministries of Health and Welfare and Foreign Affairs hosted the 2025 Global Health and Welfare Forum in Taiwan Nov. 17-18 in Taipei City, according to the MOHW.
Themed “Taiwan National Health Insurance at 30: Toward Sustainable Success in the 21st Century,” the event drew a total of 25 health ministers, deputy ministers and other high-level officials from 13 countries including allies Belize, Eswatini, Haiti, Palau, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, the Marshall Islands and Tuvalu, the MOHW said, adding that 40 experts from ten countries including France, Germany, the U.K. and the U.S. shared experience in health and social welfare.
Keynote speeches featured international academics including Martin McKee, professor of European public health at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, who talked on advancing global health and sustainable well-being in a new world order, and Georges C. Benjamin, executive director of American Public Health Association, who talked about driving health futures with equity and sustainability, the ministry said.
Delivering a keynote speech on building a resilient and sustainable health system, Health Minister Shih Chung-liang noted that Taiwan’s three-decade long national health insurance system ensures all citizens are entitled to basic medical protection. Faced with the challenges of an aging society, he looked forward to discussions at the forum facilitating a resilient coping mechanism, the MOHW added.
Deputy Health Minister Chuang Jen-hsiang hosted a round table meeting in which ministers and deputy ministers from Taiwan’s seven diplomatic allies released a joint ministerial statement. This advocated for inclusive health, forging a climate resilient health system and international action on the future of the planet, the ministry stated. (POC-E)
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