To strengthen its response to a potential conflict in the Taiwan Strait, the Taiwanese government plans to launch domestic production of critical wartime medical supplies, such as blood bags.
Bloomberg reported on the 17th that Taiwan's Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare, Lin Ching-yi, revealed that the Ministry of Health is closely collaborating with several departments, including the National Security Council, to enhance Taiwan's medical response capabilities in emergency situations.
She pointed out that the current strategy focuses on enhancing domestic production capacity for critical medical supplies like blood bags while ensuring that import sources remain stable and secure.
Lin Ching-yi stated, “The COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war have highlighted the significant risks of over-relying on foreign sources for critical drugs and medical equipment.” She noted that during the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, medical resources were severely strained, with shortages of crucial items like oxygen and medications.
Lin Ching-yi emphasized that Taiwan currently relies mainly on imported blood bags because importing is cheaper than domestic manufacturing. Blood bags, primarily made of medical-grade PVC, are extensively used for blood collection, storage, and transfusion and are indispensable in wartime, especially crucial for Taiwan's military, which is significantly smaller than China's.
Informed Taiwanese officials disclosed that the United States has been monitoring Taiwan's blood reserve and related logistics system since at least last year, focusing on whether Taiwan has sufficient electricity and backup systems to maintain blood bank operations and whether the conditions for cold chain transportation and storage are adequate.
Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense submitted a report to the Legislative Yuan in March of this year, indicating plans to establish the first blood donation center by the end of the year and to set up a centrally managed blood supply system by 2026.
According to Taiwan's Economic Daily News last July, the Nan Ya company, under the Formosa Plastics Group, invested TWD 950 million (MYR 136 million) to build a leukoreduced blood bag production plant in Shulin District, New Taipei City, which began mass production in the fourth quarter of last year with an initial annual capacity projected to reach 8 million bags.
Chen Yen-wen, chairman of Precision Fab, which is collaborating with Nan Ya, stated at the time that the production line aimed to obtain a Taiwan manufacturing license for human medical use in the first quarter of this year, allowing it to officially meet local market demand.