Taiwan is third in the Asia-Pacific for implementing effective mental health policies and providing services aimed at assisting patients integrate successfully into society, according to a recently released regional mental health integration index produced by the Economist Intelligence Unit.
The country’s overall score of 80.1 placed it behind New Zealand at 94.7 and Australia at 92.2, but ahead of Singapore, 76.4; South Korea, 75.9; and Japan, 67.4.
Dr. Chang Shu-sen, an assistant professor in the College of Public Health at National Taiwan University in Taipei City, said in the report that “Taiwan’s democratic transition of 30 years ago had widespread indirect impacts on the improvement of community care and has enhanced awareness of human rights, including for those with mental illness.”
Released Oct. 10 to coincide with World Mental Health Day, the inaugural edition of the index compares the level of effort in 15 countries on the basis of 18 indicators grouped into the categories of access to treatment, environment, governance and opportunity. It employs similar methodology used by the EIU in its 2014 report for Europe.
According to the index, Taiwan outperformed in all four categories: third in environment, equal third with Japan in opportunities, fourth in governance and fifth in access to treatment. One area singled out for praise was suicide prevention, with a significant drop in the rate achieved since the introduction of the National Health Insurance program in 1995.
The NHI is a world-class public health system widely regarded as one of Taiwan’s most impressive public sector achievements. The scheme, which covers more than 99 percent of the island’s 23 million people, provides easy access to a comprehensive range of services, including subsidized treatment for those with mental illness.
Another public health initiative expected to improve the well-being of the populace is the Long-term Care Plan 2.0. Aimed at increasing access to and the quality of health care for the nation’s elderly and disabled, the plan involves establishing thousands of neighborhood centers providing services like dementia, physical therapy and preventative treatment. Trial operations commenced Nov. 1 in nine municipalities nationwide. (SCK-E)
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