The World Medical Association (WMA) General Assembly took place in Taipei, Taiwan, between 19 and 22 October 2016. Our wonderful hosts, the doctors of the Taiwan Medical Association, organised a very efficient and tightly run meeting. Dr Wong Tien Hua, President of SMA, and all three SMA Council members who were in attendance, are alumni of the WMA Physicians Leadership Course programme. This WMA meeting was notable because the incoming President of the WMA, Dr Ketan Desai of India, and the President Elect, Dr Yokokura Yoshitake of Japan, are both from Asia.
The theme for the Scientific Session this year was "Healthcare System Sustainability", which is very pertinent to the situation in many countries. The WMA also issued the Taipei Declaration on Ethical Considerations regarding Health Databases and Biobanks. Two highlights of the scientific session that are of interest to Singaporeans were:
a. His "Health Care 2035" Advisory Panel comprised
i. members who would be in the elderly age bracket in 2035;
ii. members of parliament and bureaucrats who know how to run the country; and
iii. people from diverse expertise and backgrounds (eg, public and private sector, men and women), so that the long-term plan can be as comprehensive as possible.
b. The two key questions posed were:
i. How can we improve both quality and productivity given the increasing and diverse demands and limited resources?
ii. How can we realise a health system that focuses on the care (not necessarily cure) and quality of death/dignity one wants?
c. Their solution was to break away from the patchwork style of health policy-making and embrace comprehensive reform building to transform healthcare into a social system that engages all sectors through shared vision and values, instead of maintaining the status quo through basic cost share increases and benefit cuts.
- An overview of Taiwan's Roadmap for Better Healthcare by their Minister of Health and Welfare, Dr Tzou-Yien Lin, with the emphasis on long-term care planning 2.0 to integrate and finance home care services; day care and community rehabilitative services; long-term care management systems; and acute and subacute care facilities with integrated transport services to bring patients, especially the elderly, to all these facilities. Another system, "live" since July 2013, was their PharmaCloud, a pharmaceutical records database that allows authorised medical practitioners to view real-time medication records with their patient's consent.
- "Sustainability of healthcare in ageing societies: The future of Japan's health system", delivered by Prof Dr Kenji Shibuya, Chair of the Department of Global Health Policy, Graduates School of Medicine, University of Tokyo.
The overall plan of lean healthcare and life design while being a global health leader can be found in The Lancet (December 12, 2015).