PETALING JAYA: Taiwan’s Ministry of Health & Welfare and Taiwan External Trade Development Council (Taitra) held the “Taiwan and Malaysia, Joining Hands in Bringing Greater Health to Life” online panel discussion last Thursday to encourage networking between Taiwan and Malaysia’s medical community.
The Covid-19 pandemic has yet to subside, but the border control restrictions do not stop the medical industry from having international exchange among various countries. The stream attracted more than 100 Malaysian medical professionals and related practitioners.
The virtual event focused on two main themes: medical service and smart medical.
Attending the event was Malaysian Medical Devices Association president Yong Tuan Heng. In his speech, Yong noted that Malaysia, like the rest of the world, has suffered a huge economic impact due to the pandemic. He applauded Taitra for its efforts in connecting Malaysian and Taiwanese industry players virtually, providing them with a platform to share the latest medical technology and smart healthcare with each other. He hoped that this mutual collaboration would lead to a brighter future for all.
Taitra deputy director Babs Chang mentioned that the global healthcare market is estimated to hit US$1.4 trillion (RM5.72 trillion) by 2023. She reiterated that the pandemic has placed greater emphasis and urgency on healthcare, and businesses should be a step ahead to grab the opportunity in the medical industry.
Chang said Taitra has been promoting Taiwan’s international trade and health industry for a long time, and have continued to do so through various online activities and platforms to connect Taiwan to the world.
“This event aims to promote joint opportunities between medical practitioners of both places to provide better disease treatment and healthcare solutions, especially now amidst the pandemic. This is the best opportunity for Taiwan and Malaysia to join hands to develop business opportunities in the healthcare industry,“ said Chang.
During the event, six prominent hospitals and three advanced smart healthcare companies came together to share the latest disease treatment technology and smart medical technology.
The international medical service online panel session was led by Chang Gung Memorial Hospital vice superintendent Dr Jacob Feng. He mentioned that Chang Gung, being one of the world’s largest medical systems and with two proton therapy centres in Southeast Asia, welcomes exchanges with Malaysia in various aspects of medical and health science.
Cheng Hsin General Hospital superintendent Dr Jeng Wei, who has performed over 10,000 of heart transplant surgeries, said he completed heart transplant as early as 1988, and has also assisted Vietnam in the country’s first successful heart transplant. In addition, Taiwan’s survival rate of catheterised heart valve replacement TAVR surgery is the highest worldwide, up to 98%. Wei also hopes to work with Malaysia on technologies such as cardiovascular heart transplantation in the future.
Buddist Dalin Tzu Chi Hospital director Dr Harriet Shen talked about how the hospital uses immunomodulation therapy to treat vitiligo. National Cheng Kung University Hospital representative Eva Chen stated that the hospital has long-term cooperation programs with medical institutes around the world, and they also welcome medical and health collaborations with relevant companies in Malaysia. Taipei Medical University Hospital’s Director Dr I-Jing Chang emphasised that the medical university serves up to 10,000 international patients every year. This time, she recommended Taiwan as a premier hub for medical aesthetic services.
The smart medical panel discussion was hosted by Dr Nina Kao, CEO of Overseas Medical Mission Center from Changhua Christian Hospital. She highlighted that the hospital not only has a high success rate of up to 50% in reproductive medicine, but also being Taiwan’s first hospital to utilise IT smart operation systems to turn themselves into a smart hospital. One of Changhua’s partner is Imedtac. Its manager Beren Hsieh shared about how they have started using IT to build smart hospitals in Taiwan and they currently also have cooperation in Vietnam and other countries.
The discussion was also joined by Biotegy Corp, a professional in minimally invasive surgery and an expert in the research and development of high-end medical equipment. Founder Prof Fang Hsu-Wei mentioned that Biotegy specialises in the rapid development of high-end new innovative products, and can work with Malaysian companies to develop new business models and improve market competitiveness. Additionally, TaiHao Medical is committed to becoming a provider of world-class medical image processing equipment solutions and products. Manager Julia Chang introduced the advanced diagnostic system developed by Taihao, hoping to assist doctors in early detection of tumour so that early treatment can be done.
During the webinar, Malaysian industry players also put forward discussions on topics such as proton therapy for cancer, the experience of receiving medical treatment in Taiwan during the pandemic, and potential cooperation in the development of a smart medical system. Taitra also assisted in the arrangement of post-event business matching sessions for interested parties.
