To share knowledge and experience in assisting vulnerable groups to access health care in emergency contexts, the TaiwanICDF, USAID and NRC co-hosted a forum on Increasing Accessibility to Health Care in Emergency Contexts in Geneva on May 23rd. Many participants joined this forum in person, including officials from Guatemala, St. Lucia, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines along with other domestic and international members of industry, government, academia, research institutions and international non-governmental organizations (INGOs).

Firstly, the forum commenced with a brief introduction from Ms. Cecilia Roselli, Director of the Humanitarian Policy and Representative Office in Geneva, NRC. She was followed by opening remarks from the Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare in Taiwan, Ms. Li-Feng Lee, expressing resolutely that Taiwan has shown a professional and pragmatic commitment to making contributions to global health affairs for many years. The keynote speaker, Dr. Manuel Claros, UNICEF & WHO Team Lead for USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance, shared how strategies could be adapted to promote universal healthcare through existing tools and in line with the needs of partner countries and the global aid framework; Dr. Wojtek Wilk, CEO of the Polish Center for International Aid (PCPM), shared information on medical care needs amidst the Ukraine crisis and how the PCPM responded to these needs; Dr. Riccardo Lampariello, head of the health program at Tdh, discussed how to apply digital technology to improve the accessibility and efficiency of medical services and promote health equity; Ms. Cathy Wang, Director of the Humanitarian Assistance Department at the TaiwanICDF, shared how the TaiwanICDF implements public health projects and health emergency projects.

Finally, the Secretary General of the TaiwanICDF, H.E. Timothy T.Y. Hsiang, delivered the closing remarks and emphasized that the rising conflict, the worsening climate situation, and a prolonged pandemic around the world collectively put pressure on health systems. Therefore, how to improve public health preparedness and response has become an issue of great urgency. As the professional foreign aid agency of Taiwan and a member of the international aid and development community, the TaiwanICDF will continue to collaborate with the public and private sectors to promote international development cooperation and assist in capacity building for health emergency response in partner countries. This will then reflect the WHO’s action plan that is aimed at preventing or minimizing the impact of health emergencies.  

In the field of public health and medicine, the TaiwanICDF has long served as a platform for international cooperation and actively cooperates with the public and private sectors on various topics, including maternal and infant health care, chronic disease prevention, health information and management systems, and public health emergency response. We will continue to use the professional resources from Taiwan’s medical and relevant professional institutions to plan and implement public health and medicine projects in our partner countries, thereby assisting them in strengthening their medical care and public health systems.

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• Update: 2022/05/25
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