Initial Impact Assessment of the New Taitung Office of Sixth Branch, Centers for Disease Control

Jen-Hsin Wang¹、Yi-Feng Su¹、Chih-Wei Chang¹、Yu-Mei Lin¹、Jiunn-Shyan Julian Wu²、Huai-Te Tsai³、Wang-Chin Cheng³

2013 Vol.29 NO.7

Correspondence Author： Jen-Hsin Wang

Abstract：

       Situated away from the main centers of Taiwan, the Taitung region lacks the necessary resources for healthcare and disease prevention. Because of its remote location and transportation inconvenience, travelling between Taitung and Hualien takes up to six or seven hours, incurring high travel and time costs for public health officers and making it uneconomical. To spread the workload and disease prevention resources more evenly (as at the time, there were concerns over the effectiveness of Taitung’s tuberculosis control programs), and to save on expenses, the Sixth Branch, Centers for Disease Control (CDC) established the “Taitung County Tuberculosis Control Taskforce” in July 2011 to oversee the local health bureau’s tuberculosis control programs. In October of the same year, the Taitung Office was established, with tuberculosis control as its priority. Since then, the Taskforce and the Taitung Office have worked closely with the Taitung County Health Bureau to improve its efficiency in preventing and controlling communicable diseases including tuberculosis. In just over a year, progress has been made in Taitung’s disease prevention and control programs, particularly with regards to tuberculosis control. Initial conservative estimates suggested that the establishment of the Taitung Office saved NT$433,000 on expenses. Having an office locally also allowed for close monitoring and supervision of the communicable diseases prevention programs run by the local public health bureau. The time saved from long distance travel can be used on improving the quality of auditing, as well as increasing the efficiency and capacity of local health bureau’s disease prevention and control programs, ensuring better public health.