Taiwan stages TB prevention workshop for Vietnam officials

2019/05/15

A workshop on the control and prevention of tuberculosis for health care professionals from Vietnam kicked off May 13 in Taipei City.
 
 Organized by the Centers for Disease Control under the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the 12-day event features discussions and seminars on topics such as clinical treatment, disease screening, and public health management and promotion.
 
 Other activities include visits to key facilities like Taipei-based CDC Center for Research, Diagnostics and Vaccine Development, Taipei Municipal Wanfang Hospital and MOHW Chest Hospital in Tainan City, southern Taiwan.
 
 The workshop underscores the government’s commitment to assisting Vietnam enhance disease management capabilities. It also builds upon progress achieved at the same event last year and two visits to the Southeast Asian nation for Taiwan TB control professionals in March and September 2018.
 
 Based on the latest World Health Organization statistics, the CDC said more than 10 million people around the world contracted TB in 2017. A total of 60 percent reside in the Southeast Asia and West Pacific regions, with Vietnam one of the countries identified by the WHO as having a high TB incidence rate, the CDC added.
 
 According to the CDC, Taiwan boasts extensive experience in combating the disease via a raft of successful long-term projects. The country’s TB incidence rate dropped from 73 cases per 100,000 individuals in 2005 to 39 cases in 2018.
 
 Another valuable initiative co-organized by the CDC is the Taiwan-U.S. Global Cooperation and Training Framework workshop on drug-resistant TB. Wrapping up May 3 in Taipei, the four-day event was attended by officials and experts from nine countries in the region.
 
 The CDC said in addition to sharing best practices and leading-edge management strategies, the workshops demonstrate how Taiwan Can Help realize the WHO’s goal of ending the TB epidemic by 2035 and primary objective of Health For All.

Source: Taiwan Today (https://taiwantoday.tw/index.php)