President Lai presides over seventh meeting of Healthy Taiwan Promotion Committee

On the afternoon of March 5, President Lai Ching-te presided over the seventh meeting of the Healthy Taiwan Promotion Committee. In his opening statement, the president said that the government will promote a four-year national pharmaceutical resilience preparedness program. He said that it will allocate a budget of NT$24 billion, and the program will focus on three areas: domestic production for domestic use, smart regulation, and international partnerships to comprehensively build a line of defense for Taiwan's pharmaceutical supply, from source production to clinical use.

President Lai said that the government will focus on three core strategies: self-sufficiency and strengthening local supply resilience, smart technology and improved monitoring and dispatching, and boosting industrial momentum and driving a trillion-NT-dollar economy. The president emphasized that national resilience must be built collectively across all levels, adding that pharmaceutical resilience is a crucial element of whole-of-society defense resilience and a key support for realizing the Healthy Taiwan vision. He expressed hope for coordinated efforts and joint promotion by the government and private sector so that we can build a healthy, safe, and highly resilient Taiwan.

A translation of President Lai's opening statement follows:

I am delighted that we are gathered here again so soon after the Lunar New Year holiday to discuss national health policy together. First, I would like to wish everyone a belated happy Lunar New Year, and peace, good health, and happiness for you and your families.

I also want to thank the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) for significantly reducing public demand for emergency medical services during the Lunar New Year period through four major strategies: early response, patient triage , capacity expansion, and strengthening regional care networks. I would also like to thank the healthcare personnel who manned the frontlines nationwide so that the public could still enjoy stable medical services over the holiday . That was a concrete demonstration of medical resilience.

At today's meeting, we will discuss in-depth a key issue related to whole-of-society defense resilience, namely our national pharmaceutical resilience preparedness program .

In recent years, due to drastic geopolitical changes, the restructuring of the economic and trade order, and challenges posed by climate change and pandemics, global pharmaceutical supply chains are facing vulnerability risks such as single-sourcing and concentration. The United States, European Union, Japan, and other countries have all raised the issue of drug supply stability to the same level as economic security and national security, actively promoting production reshoring and maintaining strategic reserves of essential pharmaceuticals.

In particular, Taiwan is heavily reliant on imports for pharmaceuticals and medical devices , and some items are even subject to foreign hostile forces . In addition, considerations of major international pharmaceutical firms such as transportation, industry strategy, and market scale present significant challenges to the stability of Taiwan's pharmaceutical supply. I have therefore instructed the Executive Yuan to invite the MOHW and other relevant ministries and agencies to jointly plan a four-year national pharmaceutical resilience preparedness program.

The government will allocate a budget of NT$24 billion, and the program will focus on three areas: domestic production for domestic use, smart allocation, and international partnerships to comprehensively build a line of defense for Taiwan's pharmaceutical supply, from source production to clinical use.

On that foundation, we will focus on three core strategies:

First, self-sufficiency and strengthening local supply resilience: We will promote the domestic production of at least 50 key pharmaceuticals. Through policy subsidies, market guidance, and National Health Insurance reimbursement incentives, we will drive the domestic production of active pharmaceutical ingredients and self-reliance in biopharmaceutical s. We will also establish a national team to ensure the resilience of key pharmaceutical supplies. This is especially crucial in emergency situations so that Taiwan can maintain the most basic medical capabilities.

Second, smart technology and improved monitoring and dispatching: We will establish a national-level Pharmaceutical Intelligent Logistics and Storage Center (PILLS Center) , which will introduce a smart monitoring system to provide precise early warnings on the supply and demand of medications, and improve both horizontal and vertical dispatching mechanisms.

Third, boosting industrial momentum and driving a trillion-NT-dollar economy: This is not just a plan to safeguard health and ensure national security, but also an opportunity to promote the upgrading of the biomedical industry. We want to make Taiwan an indispensable partner in global supply chains for biomedical products and medical devices, transforming the enhancement of pharmaceutical resilience into industrial momentum leading to a Healthy Taiwan.

National resilience must be built collectively across all levels. Pharmaceutical resilience is a crucial element of whole-of-society defense resilience and a key support for realizing the Healthy Taiwan vision. It urgently requires coordinated efforts and joint promotion by the government and private sector.

I am very pleased to see that Healthy Taiwan Promotion Committee operations continue to foster integration across disciplines and specialties. At the beginning of this year, with the cooperation of the MOHW and Ministry of Environment (MOENV), the Healthy Taiwan Promotion Committee and the National Climate Change Committee convened a joint meeting for the first time, formally incorporating health issues into the core of national climate governance. As for today's meeting, there is active participation in whole-of-society defense resilience cooperation and initiatives.

I want to thank the MOENV, Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA), Ministry of Finance (MOF), and Nuclear Safety Commission (NSC) for attending this meeting for the first time, and the MOHW team for their preparations, as well as all the advisors and committee members for their participation. Let's keep working hard together to improve the health of our citizens and make our biomedical industry more resilient so that we can jointly build a healthy, safe, and highly resilient Taiwan.

Following his statement, President Lai heard a report on the progress of certain items listed in the sixth committee meeting from Executive Secretary and MOHW Minister Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) and reports on the national pharmaceutical resilience preparedness program delivered in succession by MOHW Deputy Minister Lin Ching-yi (林靜儀), MOEA Deputy Minister Ho Chin-tsang (何晉滄), NSC Chairperson Chen Min-jen (陳明真), MOENV Deputy Minister Hsieh Yein-rui (謝燕儒), and MOF Minister Chuang Tsui-yun (莊翠雲). Afterward, President Lai exchanged views with the committee members regarding the content of the reports.