《TAIPEI TIMES》 Budget to cover NT$20bn for healthcare workers

By Lee I-chia / Staff reporter

Premier Chen Chien-jen （陳建仁） yesterday said the government plans to allocate at least NT$20 billion （US$618.2 billion） next year to improving healthcare workers’ labor conditions.

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Chen made the remark in the opening speech at the Taiwan Medical Week academic symposium in Taipei hosted by the Formosan Medical Association.

As labor unions have repeatedly asked that healthcare workers’ conditions be improved to no avail, several labor unions protested last month and are planning to hold another rally in front of the Presidential Office Building on Sunday next week.

Chen said that Taiwan ranked No. 1 for the fifth consecutive year on online database Numbeo’s Health Care Index by Country 2023 Mid-Year, with a score of 85.9, and that the achievement could not have been attained if not for healthcare workers’ hard work.

The National Health Insurance （NHI） system also played an important role, but it should not be founded on the “sweat and blood” of healthcare workers, he said, adding that it is important that those working in the healthcare sector feel respected, fulfilled and are paid reasonably for their hard work.

President Tsai Ing-wen （蔡英文） recently discussed with him, Minister of Health and Welfare Hsueh Jui-yuan （薛瑞元） and National Health Insurance Administration Director-General Shih Chung-liang （石崇良） how healthcare workers’ salaries could be improved using the NHI system and public health budgets, Chen said.

He quoted Tsai as saying that as not all healthcare policies rely on the NHI system, more government funding should be allocated to public health and healthcare.

With that idea in mind, the government would allocate at least NT$20 billion next year to improving healthcare workers’ conditions, Chen said.

At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, people in Taiwan cooperated, recording 252 consecutive days of no new reported cases thanks to lessons learned from fighting SARS in 2003, he said, adding that the accomplishment astonished the world.

However, there were disputes on developing domestic COVID-19 vaccines in 2021, and when forces were split, the nation’s disease prevention capacity was affected, Chen said, encouraging all healthcare workers to cooperate to protect the health of people in Taiwan.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES