| Overall, the domestic medicine and health care service industry, including medical institutions, pharmaceutical establishments, and other medical institutions, continued to grow in 2004. The number of public and private medical institutions, for instance, advanced 2.47%, the total number of their sickbeds rose 5.14%, and total employment of medical personnel upped 5.19%. Judging from the indicators of the number of sickbeds (or the number of medical-care personnel) for every 10,000 people and the number of people served by every sickbed (or medical-care personnel), we see the supply and efficiency of the island's medical facilities have continuously improved in recent years.
Since local citizens' demands for medical care and health care services, in terms of both quantity and quality, have continued to increase, the outlook for the medical and health care service business is good. Looking ahead, since the national health insurance program may be reformed in many aspects and the existing restrictions on foreign investments in the medical field are likely be removed, in line with the government's commitment to the World Trade Organization, domestic medical and health care service industry will face increasingly stiff competition. |
