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Special Reports
Public health and medicine has
long been a developmental focus
of international aid. Among the
eight MDGs announced by the
UN in 2000, three relate to public
health and medicine: reducing child
mortality; improving maternal health;
and combating HIV/AIDS, malaria
and other diseases. According to the
UN’s 2014 Millennium Development
Goals Report, these three goals have
shown a high degree of success; by
May 2012, for instance, the mortality
rate for children aged five and under
was reduced by approximately
half from its 1990 baseline; in 2013
the mortality rate among pregnant
women had fallen from 380 to 210
per 100,000; and the use of anti-
malarial drugs had saved 3 million
lives between 2000 and 2012.
As for the prevention of HIV/AIDS,
World Bank indicators reveal that
sub-Saharan Africa remains a center
of the epidemic, and that although
the proportion of adult HIV/AIDS
sufferers has started to fall, about 58
percent of adult HIV/AIDS sufferers
in Africa are female, increasing
the risk of direct mother-to-baby
transmission.
The UN’s post-2015 Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs) cover
17 major items, including ending
hunger; achieving food security and
improved nutrition and promoting
sustainable agriculture; ensuring
healthy lives and promoting well-
being for all at all ages; and
ensuring the availability and
sustainable management of water
and sanitation for all. With such
content and indicators, the SDGs
are more diverse than the MDGs,
and more inclusive, and can be
pursued through strategies of a more
interdisciplinary nature.
The development of health care
in Taiwan has yielded a range of
specializations, including public
policy formulation, public health
advocacy, the development of
community healthcare systems, and
the monitoring and management
of epidemics, all of which have
borne successful experiences that
can serve as a reference to partner
countries. Thus, in terms of medium-
and long-term public health and
medical development strategies,
besides focusing on Taiwan’s priority
areas and the needs of partner
countries, we are also well placed
to respond to international trends in
development assistance, promoting
programs to help pregnant women
and supporting the prevention of
chronic diseases as we continue to
pursue the MDGs and SDGs.
To take our Capacity Building
Project for the Prevention and Control
of Chronic Renal Failure in Belize as
one example, this project relies upon
Taiwan’s own efforts in the prevention
of chronic diseases, and especially
its expertise and experience of
preventing renal diseases. Through
the integration of the resources
present among Taiwanese medical
organizations, the TaiwanICDF is
assisting Belize to build a basic
system to prevent chronic renal
diseases and metabolic syndrome,
including by strengthening public
health promotion and education
capabilities, building capacity in the
care of chronic diseases, and by
establishing case management and
tracking systems. Our Healthcare
Personnel Training Program and
the dispatch of experts will also
help us to build the capacity of
partner countries, strengthening
public health financing systems,
basic equipment, health information
systems, health personnel and
research capacity, and thereby
generating a more positive impact
among such partners.
Public Health and Medicine
1 As part of the Healthcare Personnel Training
Program, Mishella Moveni Tutua, a dentistry
manager from the Solomon Islands,
observes students simulating operations at
Kaohsiung Medical University's College of
Dental Medicine.
2 To improve maternal health and child
mortality rates, an identification mission
visits Swaziland for the Maternal and Child
Health Improvement Project.
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