A review of aboriginal health policy in Taiwan

The aboriginal people comprise approximately 2% of the total population in Taiwan. Aboriginal health related issues have become one of the most important national health policies in recent years due to the transition of society and the modification of the Constitution in order to respect and ensure aboriginal status that is based on multiple cultural perspectives. The major purpose of this paper is to review the policy which relates to aboriginal health. This review will include several periods: Dutch, Spanish, Cheng's, Ching Dynasty and Japanese periods. The development of aboriginal health policies may be divided into seven stages according to different time periods and their characteristics. They are: traditional medicine, budding, founding, establishing, developing, mature, and sustainable management stages. The health status of residents in mountain areas had been ignored until the 1980s. It was noted that a specific administrative department which is in charge of the health programs of "mountain areas and off-shore islands" was established in 1998 by the Bureau of Medical Affairs, Department of Health, the Executive Yuan, Taiwan, R.O.C. Therefore, the development of aboriginal health policies is a new development which has remained and constant since 1998. It is hoped that aboriginal health policies will develop into a sustainable management stage in the new century.