NTU Delegation Attends 2017 World Health Summit and M8 Alliance Meeting

Prof. Chang-Chuan Chan (詹長權), Dean of the NTU College of Public Health, led a delegation to the 2017 World Health Summit (WHS) and M8 Alliance Annual Conference at Berlin, Germany, during October 12-19. The M8 Alliance, which has 25 members based in 18 different countries, functions as a platform for improving global health by academic experience exchange. National Taiwan University (NTU) is one of the M8 Alliance members (Pic. 1).

The M8 Alliance is improving global health through pursuit of five strategic goals: (1) Developing a worldwide network of academic health science centers, and bringing together universities and healthcare providers; (2) Facilitating dialogue through the WHS across a global network of stakeholders who are engaged with academic health science centers; (3) Setting an agenda for global health improvement by addressing issues of interest to academic health science centers, and conveying findings and recommendations based on scientific evidence through the generation of key statements; (4) Positioning the M8 Alliance as an authoritative, credible, and respected influence when it comes to decision-making in global health; and (5) Creating a knowledge base amongst M8 Alliance members, which directly involves the promotion of mutual learning, research collaboration, the enrichment of educational capabilities, and enhanced clinical outcomes.

Since it was launched in 2009, WHS has brought together stakeholders and decision-makers from every field in the healthcare spectrum, providing a forum for exchange with experts from academia, industry, politics, and civil society. With the mission of “Science - Innovation - Policies,” WHS pursues to develop science-based solutions to current and future health challenges all over the world. Held in Berlin, the 2017 WHS attracted 2,000 participants and stakeholder groups around the globe, and was highly praised by Angela Merkel (Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany), Emmanuel Macron (President of the Republic of France), and Jean-Claude Juncker (President of the European Commission).

Aside from Dr. Chang-Chuan Chan, the delegation (Pic. 2) included Ya-Mei Chen (陳雅美; Associate Professor of the Institute of Health Policy and Management, NTU College of Public Health), Wang-Huei Sheng (盛望徽; Associate Director of the Department of Internal Medicine, NTU Hospital), Shao-Yi Cheng (程劭儀; Director of Health Center, NTU Hospital), and Jhih-Yuan Shih (施至遠; Director of Health Promotion and Management Center, Taipei City Hospital; also a doctoral student at the NTU College of Public Health). Prof. Sheng, Assistant Prof. Cheng, and Dr. Shih represented Prof. Shan-Chwen Chang (張上淳; Dean of the NTU College of Medicine), Dr. Hong-Nerng Ho (何弘能; Superintendent of NTU Hospital), and Dr. Sheng-Jean Huang (黃勝堅; Superintendent of Taipei City Hospital), respectively.

During the conference, the delegation held the “Long-Term and End-of Life Care in Aging Societies Workshop” with Kyoto University, University of Coimbra, and Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, and gave a lecture on Oct 15. Chaired by Dr. Chan and Dr. Fukuhara (Dean of the School of Public Health, Kyoto University), the lecture focused on several collaborations between NTU and Kyoto University (Pic. 5). Associate Prof. Ya-Mei Chen presented “A Framework of Investigating the Mechanisms for Integrating Long-Term Care Services,” which is a collaboration project between the NTU College of Public Health and Kyoto University. Prof. Fukuhara reported on the “Advanced Care Planning” project, which is also an NTU–Kyoto collaboration project conducted by Assistant Prof. Cheng and Dr. Jun Miyashita. Dr. Shih presented “Impact of ACP Policy on End-of-Life Care in Taiwan.” Audience responded very well to these presentations. Because of the responses from the audience, WHS will have a new workshop for advanced care planning in the next year, aside from long-term care and end-of-life care. Associate Prof. Ya-Mei Chen was also interviewed at the conference (Pic 6). She stated that, although excluded from international organizations such as WHO and WHA due to political factors, Taiwan still dedicates itself to the development of public health and global health. Moreover, WHS is a great platform for Taiwan to contribute its accomplishments in public health to the world.

WHS discussed popular global health topics such as big data management, precision medicine and population health, antibiotic resistance, gender equality of medical staffs, AI in health issues, new treatments for amnesia, medical translation, vaccine issues, and drug resistance. In the M8 Alliance Declaration at WHS 2017, WHS President Hélène Boisjoly stated that “Health is a Political Choice,” and highlighted the need for action in six key areas of global health:

1.Commitment to Strong and Reliable Governance
2.Commitment to Ensure Global Health Security
3.Commitment to Healthy and Resilient Cities
4.Commitment to Responsible Approaches to Big Data
5.Commitment to Research, Innovation, and Development
6.Commitment to Innovation and Health Systems Strengthening in Africa

In addition to attending the meeting, the delegation also visited Taipei Representative Office in the Federal Republic of Germany. Representative Chih-wei Hsieh (謝志偉) praised the delegation’s achievement at WHS and Taiwan’s achievement in advanced medical treatment and public health systems, which can serve as a foundation for future global collaborations as well as a preparation for Taiwan’s engagement in the coming World Health Assembly in 2018 (Pic. 7). The declaration also sent a strong message that a determined political leadership is required to counteract forces that endanger global health progress.

(Source: Ya-Mei Chen, Associate Professor of the Institute of Health Policy and Management, College of Public Health, NTU)