臺灣皮膚科醫學會第49屆年會

Dear Conference Chairperson Prof. Kathy Hong, Prof. Yu Hsin- Su, Prof. Abel Lee, distinguished invited speakers, ladies and gentlemen:

On behalf of the government of the Republic of China (Taiwan), I would like to welcome all of you to the lovely city of Kaohsiung and the 49th Annual Meeting of the Taiwanese Dermatological Association (TDA), held in conjunction with the Euro-Asian Association of Dermatovenerologists Congress.
 
Kaohsiung is the location where western medicine was first systematically introduced to Taiwan. In 1865, Dr. James Maxwell, a medical doctor from Edinburgh and the first Presbyterian missionary to Taiwan, built the first western-style hospital on Kaohsiung's Chijin (旗津) Island. For the past 150 years, Kaohsiung has been Taiwan’s main harbor city and a gateway connecting Taiwan to cultural, social, medical and religious influences from all over the world. Kaohsiung is therefore a place where you can experience a great diversity of cultural heritage including Dutch, Portuguese, British, American, Japanese, and Chinese culture.

Before I became a public servant in 2003, I had devoted myself to teaching and research in public health and preventive medicine. I have been doing multidisciplinary research in viral hepatitis and chronic arsenic poisoning from drinking water. My first research with dermatologists dated back to the early 1980s. In collaboration with Prof. Hsin-Su Yu and Gwo-Shing Chen, I studied the dose- response relation between the long-term exposure to arsenic in drinking water and the occurrence of skin cancers and a unique endemic peripheral vascular disease, so called “Blackfoot disease”. These patients were living on the southwestern coast of Taiwan in an area where the deep well water had a high level of arsenic. Taiwan data were used to set up a new maximal contamination level of arsenic in drinking water by the World Health Organization.
 
The heritage of arsenic research in Taiwan continues with several dermatologists mentored by Prof. Hsin-Su Yu, including Prof. Kathy Chien-Hui Hong, the Conference Chair for this year’s meeting. Prof. Hong investigates the biophysical and immunological mechanisms for the development of arsenic-related skin cancers and Blackfoot disease. The skin is an organ facing many challenges, pathogens, and allergens from the environment. The arsenic study is a prototype of skin research that integrates environmental science, host-pathogen interactions, sustainable development, social responsibilities and health promotion.

The TDA has 1200 active members, many of them are providing clinical care to patients in need. In addition to providing cosmetic treatments, many dermatologists are also actively engaged in the treatment of a wide variety of severe skin diseases, including skin cancers, blister diseases, burns, as well as occupational and congenital skin diseases. I am grateful for the continuing altruistic contributions of TDA members and dermatologists. 

Recent developments in telemedicine present new opportunities for dermatologists to provide high-quality specialized services to people living in remote regions. In 2018, I opened the first synchronized telemedicine service in Taiwan with Prof. Abel Lee of Kaohsiung Chang-Gung Memorial hospital. When the COVID-19 pandemic struck Taiwan two years later in 2020, telemedicine becomes a very effective and efficient channel to provide clinical care to people in desperate need. Coupled with specialists in AI technology applications tailored to skin diseases, I am confident that dermatologists will play a vital role to the develop the personalized and preventive medicine and the precision health care in near future.