The “2018 Global Health Forum in Taiwan” (GHF Taiwan), jointly organized by the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), will be held at Howard Civil Service International House from October 28th to 29th. This year, President Tsai Ing-wen will be invited to speak at the opening ceremony and launch the grand opening of the forum. The theme this year is “Resilience: New Challenges and Opportunities for Global Health”. In-depth discussions will be held among experts and scholars from countries and regions around the world. They will also discuss other health issues including “International Experience of Health Emergency Response Systems to Natural Disasters”, “The Prospect of a National HPV Vaccine Program”, “Health Literacy”, and “The Global Burden of Disease (GBD): Taiwan`s Perspective”. The goal of global efforts is to build resilient communities and a supportive health environment to effectively respond to the crisis of aging and chronic disease. The conference this year will also arrange a ministerial round-table meeting, inviting deputy health ministers from 10 participating countries to share their development experiences and concepts in sustainability and inclusiveness, which is expected to illuminate the forum.

With strong support from international friends, domestic experts and scholars, GHF Taiwan is marching towards its 14th year. It has won a good international reputation and successfully built up the Taiwan brand. This year, as many as 12 ministerial and vice-ministerial level officials from diplomatic allies and friendly nations are participating in the event, with 68 distinguished guests and internationally renowned experts, the highest in number so far. Among them are representatives from 34 countries including Kiribati, Palau, Haiti, Nauru, Russia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent, Saint Lucia, Myanmar, Tuvalu, Thailand, Singapore, Japan, eSwatini, Vietnam, Nicaragua, Solomon Islands, Philippines, United States, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Switzerland, United Kingdom and Malaysia. Additionally, in the area of international health, leaders in various health fields are also attending, including the World Federation of Public Health Associations (WFPHA), the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), highlighting the close relationship of Taiwan with global health networks and the extent of international recognition of Taiwan’s health achievements.

Resilience is one of the priority development policies of the World Health Organization (WHO) to improve health for all. It also plays an indispensable role in achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The theme of 2018 GHF Taiwan, “Resilience: New Challenges and Opportunities for Global Health”, plans discussion from global, regional and national perspectives; its parallel forum will explore the current status and future planning in various countries, including international experiences of health emergency response systems, the recovery of mental health resilience after disasters, the global perspective on human impact and mass reaction to the HPV vaccination program, the retrospection and outlook for oral health care for the elderly, health knowledge and health care for the elderly, health promotion issues from the perspectives of global health or the Asia-Pacific region, and the global disease burden as resources for decision making - experiences from global networks, etc. The MOHW said that by holding this regular, annual forum, our country is able to discuss issues of international concern with officials and scholars from all over the world. Through interaction and discussions from multiple angles by the industry, government and academia worldwide, it hopes to unlock a new vision of sustainable development of health, and provide references for the formulation of our health policy. For relevant agenda and information about the forum.