Page 5 - 2022 Taiwan Health and Welfare Report

Moreover, food labeling requirements for pork, beef and other edible parts were improved starting in 2021. Labels that do not conform to the new regulations will become market prohibited under the Medical Devices Act, which was enacted on May 1, 2021. Furthermore, in order to optimize the forensic psychiatric services, Taiwan intended to assist offenders with mental disorders to gradually integrate into society and to build one forensic psychiatric hospital. Under the second phase of Strengthening Social Safety Net Program, the MOHW has helped local governments recruit necessary workers, expanded family resources and improved service accessibility to build a stronger social safety net.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic and to prevent the transmission of the emerging variants, Delta and Omicron, Taiwan enforced strict border controls, enhanced the emergency response mechanism, and began vaccinating people against COVID-19 on March 22, 2021. However, community transmission began to increase around mid-May of 2021, causing Taiwan to declare a Level 3 epidemic alert on May 19. However, thanks to a concerted effort by both the government and the people, the community transmission was gradually brought under control. The epidemic alert was subsequently lowered to Level 2 on July 27, 2021. Furthermore, Taiwan advocated the New Lifestyle for Epidemic Prevention and expanded the community testing programs that urged employee screening/ testing and self-testing at home. Taiwan also launched the COVID-19 Government-Funded Vaccination Appointment Reservation System and established large-scale vaccination sites to increase vaccination rates. Simultaneously, Taiwan accelerated research and development of COVID-19 vaccines and drugs with the introduction of a traditional Chinese medicine formula NRICM101, which has been proven to significantly reduce the percentage of patients with mild-to-moderate symptoms developing severe illness.
The 74th World Health Assembly (WHA) was held virtually in May 2021. To garner support for Taiwan's participation in the WHA, Former Minister Chen Shih-chung submitted "Building a resilient and inclusive global health system together--Taiwan can help", an article that got published 221 times by the media in 53 countries. Taiwan's allies and like-minded nations also voiced their support for Taiwan and helped raise awareness of Taiwan's prowess in biotechnology and healthcare.
In addition, according to the United Nations' World Happiness Report 2022 that polled residents from 149 countries in 2021, Taiwan was ranked 26th and first in East Asia, which outranked Singapore, Japan, South Korea, China and Hong Kong. The survey showed that the COVID-19 not only brought a warning sign to the globe, but also promoted people's mutual support. It also revealed that people's high level of trust in government is positively related to the lower COVID-19 mortality rate.
As the pandemic continues to evolve, it is necessary to take all aspects into consideration, including creating a positive social climate for disease prevention, preserving healthcare capacity, coexisting with the virus, having the effective risk control, and promoting economic, social activities and necessary international cooperation and exchanges. The MOHW will insist on building an inclusive and mutual trust within the society and an environment conducive to the health and well-being of all.
Sincerely Minister of Health and Welfare
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Preface