Alternative healing practices are flourishing in the internet age, challenging Western medicine’s dogma with a toolbox of self-care, natural medicine, and mindfulness – and increasing vaccine hesitancy. A rainbow-themed shopfront with emerald-green walls lies deep in the heart of the Shilin Night Market. On the “International Fortune Telling Street,” a dozen individual tables offer individual…
Since the pandemic began, Taiwan has developed several herbal formulas that traditional Chinese medicine doctors say are effective in treating COVID-19. The most prominent of these is Taiwan Chingguan Yihau (NRICM101), marketed under the name Respire Aid and developed by Taiwan’s National Research Institute of Chinese Medicine (NRICM). The treatment is made up of ten…
In an industry as focused on people as healthcare, companies must not only dedicate themselves to the consistent discovery of new and innovative medicines and treatments, they need also demonstrate a solid commitment to improving the quality of patients’ lives. For Eli Lilly and Company, a pharmaceutical multinational with a 145-year history, such a commitment…
The company hopes to benefit citizens and shed new light on the treatment of cancer. Pfizer Taiwan and the National Health Research Institutes (NHRI), along with two other partnering companies, recently signed a precision medicine cooperation alliance agreement, officially launching a joint initiative to develop precision cancer treatments in Taiwan. The agreement commits all parties…
The healthcare industry is currently undergoing a radical transformation. Patients increasingly have access to better, more personalized treatment options targeting previously intractable illnesses, allowing them to live longer, more fulfilling lives. Yet for Novartis, this hard work is just the beginning of the long journey. While the global healthcare ecosystem continues to flourish, reaching ever…
The Taiwan Precision Medicine Initiative offers the opportunity to dramatically improve the nation’s medical landscape and advance the lucrative biomedical sector with an ambitious DNA mapping project. “The best doctor cures the illness that is still obscure, the good doctor cures the illness that is about to break out, and the ordinary doctor treats the…
It’s imperative to devote more resources to infectious-disease control, leading to the development of new antibiotics. In 2015, the U.S. White House launched a national action plan against antimicrobial resistance (AMR), also commonly known as antibiotic resistance. In 2017, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced the 12 types of highly resistant bacteria that pose the…
The Novartis motto – “Reimagining Medicine” – goes to the heart of the company’s deep commitment to developing innovative drugs to help fill the unmet needs of patients worldwide. The Swiss-based pharmaceutical multinational consistently ranks among the top companies investing in R&D, ensuring a constant pipeline of new and groundbreaking treatments. In 2017 the investment…
Transforming Taiwan into a regional biomedical hub will require some creativity. Taiwan’s biomedicine industry has many of the ingredients for success. The island has strong scientific talent, rich clinical-trial experience, abundant capital, a treasure trove of medical data (from the National Health Insurance system), information-technology expertise, and strong intellectual property rights protection bolstered by the…
The government’s Health Promotion Administration seeks to reduce the toll from noncommunicable diseases. Communicable diseases such as Zika, dengue fever, and Ebola may grab headlines and inspire fear, but in developed countries such as Taiwan, it is slower-moving but highly destructive noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) that are the biggest threat to both lives and the economy….
