The "2025 Asia-Pacific Health Promotion and Non-Communicable Disease Prevention Workshop" was successfully held on August 26–27 at the College of Public Health, National Taiwan University. This workshop brought together a total of 160 government officials and scholars from Singapore, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan to engage in in-depth exchanges on health promotion and cancer screening strategies. It also promoted international collaboration and enhanced Taiwan’s visibility and influence in the field of public health across the Asia- pacific region.

Cross-border and Cross-sector Collaboration Inspire New Thinking in Public Health

      The "2025 Asia-Pacific Health Promotion and Non-Communicable Disease Prevention Workshop" was guided by the Health Promotion Administration (HPA), Ministry of Health and Welfare, and jointly organized by the Asia-Pacific Academic Consortium for Public Health (APACPH), the Collaborating Centres for Health Promotion (CCHP), the Taiwan Association for Global Health Initiative (TAGHI), with support from the Institute of Population Health Sciences, National Health Research Institutes (NHRI) and the Taiwan Public Health Student Association.

      The event brought together four distinguished speakers from four countries: Dr. Akila ANDIAPPAN, Deputy Director of Health Screening and Management at the Health Promotion Board, Singapore; Dr. Takahiro HIGASHI, Professor of Public Health and Health Policy at the University of Tokyo, Japan; Dr. Yumi OH, Division Director of the Department of Health Risk Prevention at the Korea Health Promotion Institute; and Dr. Han-Mo CHIU, Clinical Professor of Internal Medicine at National Taiwan University College of Medicine Department, Taiwan, Professor Hsiu-Hsi CHEN from the Institute of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine at National Taiwan University, Director Hung-Yi CHIOU and Deputy Director Dr. Ya-Wen CHIU from the National Institute of Population Health Sciences, NHRI. Through engaging discussions on topics such as national cancer screening strategies and health promotion policies, the workshop fostered vibrant cross-national and interdisciplinary dialogues among policymakers, academics, and public health professionals.

Focusing on Cancer Screening: Policy Dialogue and Practical Exchange to Strengthen Regional Health Resilience

      The two-day workshop focused on the current colorectal cancer screening  policies and strategies. Dr. Akila ANDIAPPAN from Singapore’s Health Promotion Board opened the session by introducing Singapore’s evidence-based experience, highlighting several successful strategies: integrating screening programs into primary care services, deploying mobile screening units to reach underserved populations, promoting multilingual health education to serve diverse communities, and establishing a rigorous quality assurance system. Dr. Yumi OH from the Korea Health Promotion Institute shared Korea’s strategy, which prioritizes early diagnosis and intervention. She also highlighted government efforts to implement community health programs that strengthen public health infrastructure and promote integrated health promotion measures aimed at reducing key risk factors such as smoking, alcohol consumption, and obesity. Professor Takahiro HIGASHI of the University of Tokyo emphasized the critical role of cancer screening in early detection and improved prognosis. However, he also pointed out concerns such as overdiagnosis and overtreatment associated with certain screening methods. Japan’s national guidelines, he explained, are developed with great caution, recommending only screening procedures with strong evidence of mortality reduction, thereby striking a balance between evidence-based policymaking and clinical realities. Finally, Dr. Han-Mo CHIU, a leading expert in colonoscopy in Asia and Clinical Professor of Internal Medicine at National Taiwan University, addressed Taiwan’s current challenges in colorectal cancer screening. He noted the stagnation in screening participation rates in recent years, the lack of improvement in follow-up colonoscopy rates among individuals with positive fecal occult blood test (FOBT) results, the need for advancements in early-stage colorectal cancer treatment, and the often-overlooked risk of recurrence following local excision. Taiwan has promoted colorectal cancer screening through systematic planning, medical collaboration, and public education. These efforts have successfully increased participation, reduced mortality, and lowered healthcare costs. The program has achieved remarkable results and will move toward precision screening in the future.

      On the second day of the workshop, the focus shifted to a broader discussion on national cancer screening strategies. Representatives from participating countries took turns presenting overviews of their current national screening policies and the challenges they face during the round-table forum. The discussion was co-moderated by Deputy Director-General Shi-Lun WEI from the Health Promotion Administration also joined the discussion. Government officials and scholars from across the Asia-Pacific region participated in this forum, sharing insights on the implementation of screening strategies in practice, their theoretical foundations, ongoing challenges, and future prospects. The lively exchanges during the session sparked numerous in-depth and forward-looking perspectives, laying the groundwork for potential cross-border collaboration and strategic development in population health.

      Director-General Ching-Fen SHEN of the Health Promotion Administration shared Taiwan’s successful experience in colorectal cancer screening and also learnd from the practices of other economies at the 2025 Asia-Pacific Health Promotion and Non-Communicable Disease Prevention Workshop. Director-General SHEN remarked that the workshop not only deepened transnational exchange and policy dialogue on health promotion and cancer screening strategies across the Asia-Pacific region, but also established a solid foundation for stronger academic and practical collaborations between Taiwan and countries in the Asia-Pacific and New Southbound regions. Looking ahead, the Collaborating Centres for Health Promotion (CCHP) will continue to work closely with international partners to address emerging global health challenges. The Center will further strengthen Taiwan’s research and practical capacity in areas such as non-communicable disease prevention and health promotion.