Page 81 - 2023 Taiwan Health and Welfare Report

06 Communicable Disease Control 06

Section 2 Disease Surveillance and in order to shorten the tuberculosis diagnosis and
treatment period and raise the treatment coverage of
Investigation Mechanisms
latent tuberculosis infection. The outcomes achieved in
Disease surveillance aims to quickly detect the
2022 are as follow:
incidence of diseases and to establish a pattern of
1. It is estimated that there will be 6,576 new cases of
progression so policymakers can arrive at a sound
TB in 2022, with a projected national incidence rate
decision. Taiwan CDC has established a diverse
of 28 cases per 100,000 population. Since 2005,
communicable disease surveillance system. The
Taiwan has achieved a cumulative reduction of 60%
integration and analysis of surveillance data forms the
in the TB incidence rate (Figure 6-2), indicating the
empirical foundation that supports pandemic prevention
effectiveness of our prevention and control strategies.
command and policy evaluation. The number of
notifiable disease cases in 2022 is shown in Appendix II. 2. The Directly Observed Treatment Short Course
The goal of epidemiological investigations is (DOTs) program was launched, and the MDR-
to immediately grasp the development of epidemics TB Consortium, TMTC, was implemented. In the
as well as learn about modes of transmission and 24-month treatment period for the cohort tracked in
sources. These processes aim to identify the cause 2020, the success rate reached 79%.
of disease spread soon as possible and formulate 3. The Latent Tuberculosis Infection Treatment (LTBI)
response strategies, in order to effectively prevent program was further promoted and expanded
epidemics from spreading. In 2022, there were 805 to provide testing services for 83,556 individuals.
suspected clusters. Furthermore, in conjunction with the Directly Observed
Preventive Therapy (DOPT), treatment services
Chapter 2 Prevention and Control have been offered to 8,634 individuals, resulting in
of Major / Emerging a treatment enrollment rate of 98%. This effective
Communicable Diseases approach has effectively reduced the future risk of
disease occurrence among high risk populations.
Section 1 Tuberculosis
4. The examination of contacts was enhanced, with
For the prevention strategies of tuberculosis, an average of 11 contacts being monitored for each
besides reinforcing the checkups of contacts and index TB patient, in order to mitigate the risks of TB
reported cases, the MOHW has promoted new retransmission. Additionally, 272 cases were detected
diagnostic techniques and introduced new medicine through proactive screening using chest X-rays.

Figure 6-2 Reported TB Cases, 2005 - 2022

Incidence Rate
New Cases
(per 100,000 population)
20,000 73 75
New Cases Incidence Rate
18,000 70
16,472 (per 100,000 population)
16,000 65
14,000 60
12,000 55
10,000 50
8,732
7,823
8,000 7,062 45
6,576
6,000 37 40
4,000 33 35
30
2,000 28 30
0 25
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
Year
Source: Taiwan Centers for Disease Control

78 79