The 2024 Global Health and Welfare Forum in Taiwan kicks off Nov. 5 in Taipei City. (Courtesy of Ministry of Health and Welfare)

The 2024 Global Health and Welfare Forum in Taiwan opened Nov. 5 in Taipei City as part of government promotion of health for all, according to the Ministry of Health and Welfare.

Organized by the MOHW and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, event attendees include health ministers and other high-level officials from 17 countries. The forum features 37 speakers hailing from Australia, Thailand, the U.K. and the U.S., among others.

The two-day event was opened by MOHW Minister Chiu Tai-yuan and features keynote speeches by experts including Arūnas Dulkys, Lithuanian economist and former minister of health; Jozef Suvada, Slovakia’s ambassador at large for global health; and Osamu Kunii, CEO and executive director of the Japan-based Global Health Innovative Technology Fund.

The event also includes three plenary and four parallel sessions, the MOHW said, adding that the topics discussed span health diplomacy and a variety of modern challenges including a declining birth rate in East Asia, internet addiction and mental health of teenagers, and the role of digital tools in reducing medical inequality.

The forum serves as a platform for Taiwan to share its health and medical achievements while facilitating exchanges worldwide, the MOHW said. It helps the government improve policies via practices shared by event participants while strengthening the country’s connection with the international health community, it added. (YCH-E)