TAIPEI (TVBS News) — American media outlets on Friday (May 16) featured an opinion piece by Taiwan's Minister of Health and Welfare, Chiu Tai-yuan (邱泰源), addressing the island's continued exclusion from the World Health Organization (WHO). In the widely distributed commentary, Minister Chiu underscored Taiwan's internationally recognized healthcare achievements, particularly its near-universal health insurance coverage exceeding 99.9% for three decades — a benchmark that health policy experts worldwide have studied as a potential model.
The opinion piece appeared in 21 different city newspapers published by Beacon Media News, a Southern California media conglomerate with significant regional reach. Minister Chiu's article detailed how Taiwan established its universal healthcare system in 1995, creating a program that has delivered consistent, equitable, and cost-effective medical coverage to the island's 23 million residents. The minister noted that Taiwan's healthcare system has achieved international recognition, maintaining the top position in global healthcare rankings by the comparative database Numbeo for seven straight years.
In his commentary, Minister Chiu stressed that despite persistent political obstacles to Taiwan's international participation, the island remains steadfastly committed to advancing global health initiatives and upholding the WHO's founding principle that health is a basic human right. In a separate piece, Amino C.Y. CHI (紀欽耀), who heads the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Los Angeles — Taiwan's de facto diplomatic mission in Southern California — published his own opinion piece in the Beverly Press newspaper, urging international support for Taiwan's inclusion in the WHO and arguing that such recognition would serve both practical public health interests and fundamental fairness.
The publication of these advocacy pieces comes at a strategic moment, just days before the 78th World Health Assembly (WHA), the WHO's highest decision-making body, convenes on May 19 in Geneva. In his concluding remarks, Minister Chiu called upon the WHO leadership to extend an invitation to Taiwan to join the organization's meetings and technical activities, emphasizing that true global health security requires professional, scientific approaches that transcend political considerations. ◼
