At 10 a.m. today (February 8), the Ministry of Health and Welfare held a handover ceremony in its auditorium for outgoing Minister Lin Zou-yan and incoming Minister Chen Shih-chung, with Minister-without-portfolio Lin Wan-yi serving as the witness. In his speech, Minister Lin gave thanks to ex-Minister Lin for proactively carrying out medical care and long-term care reforms, including simplifying and streamlining hospital evaluations, implementing the hierarchical medical system, ensuring the inclusion of doctors under the Labor Standards Act, and implementing the Ten-year Long-term Care Program 2.0 this January. With regard to disease prevention, which is an area of ex-Minister Lin’s expertise, there were only seven cases of dengue fever in Taiwan last year, and the number of influenza cases during the Chines New Year period this year was 60% lower than the number of cases during the same period last year. Ex-Minister Lin’s list of achievements during his term has received praise from various sectors. At the same time, the Ministry expects that Minister Chen will continue to conduct reforms, improve Taiwan’s food safety, health and medical care, and social welfare, and do his best in advancing the health and welfare of the people in Taiwan.

Minister Chen graduated from the School of Dentistry, Taipei Medical College, and he has served as the 6th President of the Taiwan Dental Association, the Deputy Minister of Department of Health, Executive Yuan, and the National Policy Advisor to the President. In addition to having interdisciplinary expertise, good communication skills, and much experience with health policies, he is familiar with the operations of the Ministry. He also has great aspirations and enthusiasm for his work. Minister Chen said that the most important thing right now is to promote and implement the “Five Measures for Food Safety” proposed by Premier Lin Chuan and to continue working toward a high-quality, affordable, and universal long-term care system, which entails promotion of the Ten-year Long-term Care Program 2.0 and collaboration with local governments in providing long-term care services that meet the locals’ needs. Regarding reforms of the medical care system, solving the issue of overworked medical personnel and protecting their labor rights remains a major goal, but more importantly, the Ministry will work to actively transform the roles and functions of basic medical care, so that people will have more trust in the care they receive and in turn change the way they utilize the health care system, thus eventually realizing the goals of a hierarchical medical system and localized medical care. Adequate amounts of national health expenditure will also be allocated to public medical care systems and public health personnel, so that high-quality medical care can be provided to disadvantaged groups and people living in remote areas, realizing the goal of wellness and welfare for everyone.