Page 67 - 2023 Taiwan Health and Welfare Report

04 Health Care 04

Figure 4-5 Outcome of Rare Disease Care in 2022

Reported 19,780 cases
Announced 240 types of publicly announced rare diseases
of rare diseases
Served 7,278 patients
with rare disease under the Rare
Disease Care Services Plan
Announced 128 types
Subsidized 1,283 patients
of medication for rare diseases
of rare diseases for their treatment and
purchase of special nutritional supplements
and emergency orphan drugs
Announced 80 test items
Subsidized 3,019 patients
for rare disease diagnosis
confirmation in Taiwan with rare diseases not covered by the NHI
for their medical expenses

Approved 8 subsidy programs
Announced 94 items
in the open solicitation according to the
of special nutrition foods Regulations on Rewards and Subsidies for
for rare disease Rare Diseases Prevention

service copayments, 86 received subsidy for provided to hepatitis C patients, reducing their financial
their hospitalization, and 469 received free burden and alleviating the hardships of treatment. The
health examination. To date, 272 applications of success rate of this new therapy is over 99%, and as
solatium payments for surviving family members of December 2022, it has successfully treated over
have been approved. 146,000 individuals. In addition to 80,000 successful
IFN-treated cases, the accumulative coverage
Section 4 Prevention and Control of HCV
of Hepatitis C treatment is over 50%. The Health
infection
Promotion Administration has been providing free
The Ministry has put forward the "2018-2025 lifetime hepatitis C screening for individuals aged 45
National Policy Framework for Hepatitis C Elimination" and above, born in 1966 or later, since August 2011.
with three key policy directions: "Therapy Spear- In June 2019, free screening was further expanded
heads Prevention", "Screening Supports Therapy", to include indigenous people aged 40-60. A total of
and "Prevention Secures Outcomes". The aim is to 850,000 people have been screened as of September
achieve the goal of eliminating hepatitis C by the 2025, 2020. In September 2021, the age range for free
ahead of the timeline set by the WHO. By doing so, screening was expanded to 45-79 for the general
it is intended to alleviate hepatitis C as a major public population (40-79 for indigenous people). As of
health burden. December 2022, approximately 2.25 million people
It is estimated that there are approximately have been screened, with a total of 3.11 million people
300,000 to 400,000 chronic hepatitis C patients in benefiting from government-sponsored hepatitis C
Taiwan. In the absence of a vaccine globally, treating screening programs.
hepatitis C patients is the best means of saving lives
and reducing transmission. Since 2017, a nationwide
program reimbursing oral antiviral therapy has been

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