Traditional Chinese Medicine has diverged since 1949: mainland China standardized it into a state-controlled system for nationalist purposes, while Taiwan developed a more diverse, pluralistic approach that preserves multiple interpretive traditions. Both claim authentic Chinese heritage, but represent fundamentally different visions of how tradition should function in modern society.
Written by Chia-Yun Lee. This article examines marketing narratives in fertility clinics, social media, and mainstream online media, revealing how egg freezing in Taiwanese society is seen as a form of insurance and a means to empower women. However, this technology also leads to personalising the risks of female infertility and reinforces social expectations of traditional gender roles.
Written by Hang-Tang Chen; translated by Yu-Chen Chuang. Taiwan needs to refine its migrant worker policies to focus not only on labour contributions but also on the well-being and dignity of the workers. Personal stories of migrant workers in this article reveal the necessity for comprehensive policies that address the physical and mental health needs, acknowledging the humanity behind the workforce.
Written by Amélie Keyser-Verreault. In Chinese culture, the tradition of yuezi (月子) or the practice of postpartum care for the mother, is a longtime established practice. In Taiwan, this practice underwent and continues to undergo the vicissitudes of social and interpersonal relationship changes. Before the 1970s, the birth rate in Taiwan was extremely high, and the idea of “more children, more grandchildren, more good fortune” (多子多孫多福氣) was widely accepted. The large family size also meant sufficient human resources for agricultural-related field labour. The practices of yuezi were already crucial at that time. Mothers in the postpartum period had some privileges like a long rest and special food, particularly meals containing meat like chicken, a precious food at that time.
Written by Tsung-Mei Cheng. Chronic financial instability and the difficulty the government has with raising the premium rate to balance the budget aside, the NHI faces myriad other challenges, including rising patient-consumer expectations and demands for ever more and better health care, the high cost of new medical technology and its coverage, provider payment reform, health care workforce shortages, ageing of the population, building long term care, etc.
Written by Po-Han Lee. The ethical imperative of the human rights-based approach to public health requires the ‘acceptability’ (including cultural appropriateness) of health policymaking, impact assessment, and care services. In this context, Cultural competence in public health practices is concerned with ‘health for all’ through ‘safety for all’. That is, the principle of cultural safety, along with awareness of intersectional marginalisation, is to eliminate health inequities due to systemic racism and eventually decolonise public and global health practices.
