Unven Geographical Development in Health in Taiwan: A Preliminary Analysis

• In Event: 343 - Section on Medical Sociology Roundtables (one-hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 03. Health Disparities

Abstract

Taiwan, one of the four “Asian tigers”, developed one of the fastest growing economies in the world, with an average GNP growth rate of 8.8% between 1951 to 1992. In addition to this impressive economic growth, Taiwan also boasts to have low social inequality, evidenced by its relatively low Gini index, in comparison with many other countries of the same level of economic development. In this preliminary analysis, we examine the geographical health and social inequalities between the center and periphery areas in Taiwan for the past three decades. We found that Taiwan’s achievement in social equality is short-lived; it has been eroding: the geographical social and health inequality between the center and the periphery areas has been deteriorating rapidly for the past three to four decades. We further explore the possible forces behind this uneven geographical development in health.

Author

• Meei-Shia Chen, National Cheng Kung University