Comparison Analysis of Taiwan/Japan Vaccine Injury Compensation Program

Shin-Yi Wang, Yu-Wen Yang, Yu-Chen Hsu, Ping-Cheng Wang, Shih-Yan Yang

2013 Vol.29 NO.1

Correspondence Author： Shin-Yi Wang

Abstract：

     As of 1988, Taiwan has established a vaccine injury compensation program; whether it is public or at self expense, as long as the procedures of qualification are met and certified, all are incorporated into our country’s vaccine injury compensation program. The jurisdiction mainly belongs to DOH who then authorizes the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program Working Group and Centers for Disease Control for execution; the expenses are at the vaccine manufacturers’ cost. In Japan, this system was established in 1976; the difference lies in the different jurisdictions of public-funded vaccines and self-paid vaccines, where the jurisdictions are held by Health Service Bureau and Pharmaceutical and Food Safety Bureau of Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare. The expenses however, also differ with the government budget covering those public-funded vaccine cases; on the other hand, the expenses for self-paid vaccine cases are covered by vaccine manufacturers, with additional fines added according to the degree of severity in each case. Due to the differences in the effectiveness of public health for public-funded and self-paid vaccines, how Japan adjusts the body held responsible and the amount of payments accordingly, and the structural concepts and execution experiences of incorporating self-paid vaccine into general drug side-effects mechanism is worthy of consideration and reference for our country.