The National Development Council has formulated the Blueprint for Developing Taiwan into a Bilingual Nation by 2030, and Tainan City Government's Public Health Bureau is actively contributing. On the 20th, it held a press conference at the Linsen Office to launch the Chinese-English Bilingual Medical Treatment Point It Booklet. The bureau compiled phrases commonly used by foreign travelers, medical personnel, and pharmacists into a bilingual booklet with side-by-side translations to facilitate communication through pointing between foreign visitors who don't speak Chinese and medical personnel.
The Blueprint for Developing Taiwan into a Bilingual Nation by 2030 calls for using a multipronged approach to transform Taiwan into a bilingual Chinese-English nation before 2030. The strategies for achieving the goal include producing bilingual versions of open government data; offering bilingual services at cultural, educational, and sporting venues; creating bilingual-friendly environments; strengthening the English proficiency of personnel in the financial, business, medical care, and social welfare sectors; and promoting bilingual exchanges as part of youth and cultural activities. To help create a bilingual-friendly environment, the Public Health Bureau compiled phrases useful for foreign visitors at family medicine clinics, dentists, pediatricians, ophthalmologists, and pharmacies; translated them into English; and created a bilingual (Chinese-English) booklet. The phrases are divided into 20 medical specialties. Foreign visitors simply have to point at what they need when they go to hospitals or pharmacies, and medical personnel or pharmacists can read the corresponding Chinese translations to understand what the visitors need.
Public Health Bureau Director Chen Yi says the booklets will be distributed to medical treatment centers and pharmacies around Tainan shortly. He hopes these booklets will allow foreign visitors to have a great time visiting Tainan while also taking care of their health. If they feel unwell and need to visit a medical facility or a pharmacy, these booklets will help them to communicate quickly, accurately, and effortlessly with the personnel at those places.