Vice president advocates health promotion with hike in southern Taiwan

在南台灣，副總統提倡健走促進健康

Lai Ching-te takes foreign diplomats on nature trip as part of health promotion campaign


TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Vice President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) on Saturday (April 24) brought diplomats from the U.S., U.K., and other representative offices on a hike along Chiayi County’s Tefuye Trail and to visit the Tsou tribe's Dabang village in Alishan.

The Presidential Office issued a press release Sunday stating that Lai took the diplomats on a trip to Chiayi as part of the “Healthy Taiwan travels one thousand miles together” campaign. Guests included Director of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) William Brent Christensen, AIT Deputy Director Raymond Greene, British Taiwan Office representative John Dennis, and Yip Wei Kiat (葉偉傑), representative of the Singapore Trade Office in Taipei.

The vice president said the primary reason for this event was to promote healthy lifestyle choices. According to a report from the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the average lifespan in Taiwan is over 80 years, but the number of years of unhealthy living for one person totals 8.4 years.

This means 10 percent of an average Taiwanese person's life is spent either laying sick in bed, confined to a wheelchair, or needing a caregiver, he said.

Lai emphasized that this means though Taiwanese pay attention to medical treatment and long-term care, they ignore healthy lifestyle choices. If Taiwan could elevate the concept of health promotion, it would be great for both individuals and society as a whole, he stated.