陸醫學研究「把台灣納一省」 《刺胳針》全文刊登衛福部抗議信

▲陸醫學研究「把台灣納一省」，《刺胳針》全文刊登衛福部抗議信。（圖／翻攝刺胳針網站）

記者嚴云岑／台北報導

國際頂尖的醫學期刊《刺胳針（The Lancet）》6月25日登出一篇中國的醫學研究，文中圖表把台灣列為中國一省，引發醫界、學界抗議，衛福部長陳時中也在第一時間向期刊編輯部說明，也透過外交部駐英代表處遞交抗議信，今（16）日凌晨已全文刊登於期刊網站上。

6月24日研究刊出後，刺胳針臉書紛絲團被網友灌爆，強調「台灣不是中國的一個省」，並留下負評抗議。學界也表示，台灣和中國有著不同的衛生政策、健保體系，拿來一起分析研究，結果也令人存疑。

陳時中表示，台灣是一個主權國家，並非任何其他國家的一部份，此是不爭的事實，《刺胳針》網路刊登中國學者「Mortality, morbidity, and risk factors in China and its provinces, 1990-2017: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017」的論文中，將台灣與「中國各省的平均值」相比，研究方法偏頗有違學術倫理之虞，加上雙方的衛生環境、醫療水準和公衛體系完全不同，所引用統計數據來源及蒐集方法差異甚巨，結果不具公共衛生參考價值且有損該期刊權威性和公信力。

▲衛福部長陳時中。（圖／記者季相儒攝）

衛福部統計處專委李品青表示，該篇聲明是於上週五投稿至《刺胳針》期刊，對方也同意於15日刊出，但因台英時間有差異，最後是在16日凌晨上線。

對於《刺胳針》全文刊登我抗議信，陳時中表示感謝，亦對於陳副總統與國內學界的共同聲援特別予以致謝；同時也重申，任何學術的發表內容不該被單一國家的政治意圖所牽制，臺灣將持續為全球的衛生醫療及福利貢獻一己之心力，不受任何不良政治意圖影響。

The Lancet刊載之全文如下：

Taiwan’s health-care system and administration are independent of China

As the Taiwan Minister of Health and Welfare, I am writing to make a formal protest against the erroneous designation of Taiwan as a province of China in the systematic analysis of mortality, morbidity, and risk factors in China and its provinces, 1990–2017 for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017.

Taiwan is a sovereign democratic country, not part of any other. This is an undisputed fact. Our president and parliament are democratically elected. Taiwan takes pride in its democracy. It is not part of China. The people of Taiwan have repeatedly reiterated their expectation for maintaining the status quo.

Taiwan was listed as a province of China and included in the tables in the Article.1 However, Taiwan’s hygienic conditions, health –care standards, and public health systems are completely different to those of China. Taiwan and China also use distinctly different methods to collect statistical data from different sources. The investigators compared the data of Taiwan with China’s national mean by using biased and academically unethical methodologies. The results, therefore, are of no value to the field of public health and might be detrimental to the journal’s prestigiousness and credibility.

On behalf of the Taiwan Ministry of Health and Welfare and the people of Taiwan, I hereby formally protest and demand that The Lancet make a correction.

I am the Minister of Health and Welfare, Republic of China (Taiwan).
Shih-Chung Chen
[e-mail]
Ministry of Health and Welfare, Taipei City 11558, Republic of China (Taiwan)