In July 2010, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs commissioned the International Cooperation and Development Fund (TaiwanICDF) to plan a healthcare-oriented capacity building program for the benefit of six Pacific island partner nations, to fulfill the government’s policy of flexible diplomacy and assist partner governments by putting Taiwan’s special program of cooperative medical projects into action throughout the region.

To this end, the TaiwanICDF hosted a signing ceremony for a memorandum of understanding (MOU) today, October 20, to mark new cooperation between the Ministry of Health, Tuvalu, and Taiwan’s Chung Shan Medical University Hospital.

To strengthen medical cooperation between Taiwan and its partner countries, the TaiwanICDF and 37 Taiwanese hospitals formed the International Healthcare Cooperation Strategic Alliance in 2005. Together, the TaiwanICDF and these hospitals have since dispatched Mobile Medical Missions to 24 partner countries across the South Pacific, Africa, Central and South America and the Caribbean, providing not only direct medical services, but also transferring technology and know-how through clinical exchange.

Among these endeavors, Chung Shan Medical University Hospital has offered regular support to the TaiwanICDF’s program of Mobile Medical Missions to Tuvalu throughout the past six years, as well as hosting training programs for Tuvaluan medics within Taiwan.

Guided by the needs of partner countries, the TaiwanICDF’s South Pacific Medical Enhancement Program falls within the framework of the Taiwanese government’s wider Taiwan Medical Program. A number of Taiwanese hospitals and medical institutions have signed MOUs with counterpart institutions in the Pacific and proceeded to dispatch medics to jointly develop content for the program.

To date, consultation and cooperation on public health and medical issues, including planning for short- and long-term program content, has focused on three distinct stages of medical care: (1) preventive medicine and public health education; (2) treatment during illness; and (3) post-recovery relapse prevention and rehabilitation — all of which has been designed to build capacity among, and transfer technology to, associated medical personnel and their respective institutions.

Participating in today’s signing ceremony were Tuvaluan Minister of Health, Hon. Taom Tanukale, whose visit to the TaiwanICDF was arranged to coincide with his participation in the 2011 Taiwan Health Forum; and Dr. Lue Ko-huang, superintendent at Chung Shan Medical University Hospital, Taiwan. The MOU signed for the Taiwan Medical Program to Tuvalu formalizes working-level agreement on medical cooperation and will see Taiwanese medics of varying specialties offering their compassion and care, thereby bringing substantive benefits to the citizens of Tuvalu.

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• Update: 2018/03/01
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