Taiwan's Response to COVID-19: An International Comparison with Kathy Laytham

Emily George recently had the privilege of speaking with Kathy Laytham on our most recent episode of Unlocking Accountable Care. Kathy Laytham is an American family nurse practitioner who has practiced clinically in a variety of settings for the last 17 years in Taiwan.

Taiwan has been recognized globally for their well-coordinated and timely response to the COVID-19 pandemic, despite being close to the Wuhan epicenter where the virus originated. In this episode, Kathy discusses the variety of ways government and public health officials targeted institutions, communities, and individuals to ensure the health and well-being of their citizens. She also expounds on the inherent trust the Taiwanese have in their government and how a philosophy of collectivism (versus individualism) may have underpinned Taiwan’s ability to contain the virus more effectively than other nations across the world. (Producer’s note: At the time this podcast was recorded on June 25, 2020, Taiwan had recorded only 447 cases of COVID-19 in the entire country of 23 million people; only 7 people had died from the disease.)