"Restore the man" for Taiwan
Education on Erectile Dysfunction is Slowly Overturning Old Taboos
Acupuncture and medication
In matters of health care, Taiwan continues to follow the ancient practices of traditional Chinese medicine. With about 4,000 practitioners across the country, the tradition is alive and well in Taiwan. However, reflecting the transformations that the Asian nation has undergone in the past decades, the practice of medicine in Taiwan has also changed. Today over 2,000 physicians in Taiwan have degrees in both Chinese and western medicine.
Fiona Huang, an employee in the communications department at Bayer Schering Pharma in Taipei, the capital of Taiwan, confirms that the two medical systems function side by side. “In the past, the Taiwanese mainly employed Chinese medicine. However, the trend since the introduction of the well-known blue pill has been to treat erectile dysfunction with western medicine.“ One of the companies that markets a drug in Taiwan to treat erectile dysfunction is Bayer Schering Pharma.
Erectile dysfunction – a taboo topic
Medications to treat erectile dysfunction are widely available. However, patient education on the topic presents a greater challenge. In public discourse, the topic of erectile dysfunction is largely invisible. Very few men are willing to speak about the issue, even among close friends. According to Fiona Huang, this silence can largely be attributed to cultural traditions within the family and to the educational system. Sexual education is largely in the hands of the schools, but constitutes only a very small aspect of the curriculum. "And very often, the subject is skipped entirely," notes Huang.
Taisan Yu is committed to public education on the topic and to breaking these taboos. As the national sales representative of Bayer Schering Pharma in Taiwan, Yu gets to meet many of the pharmacists who are his customers. Erectile dysfunction is only one of the many issues on the agenda. As Yu has discovered, pharmacists in Taiwan are well-informed on the topic, and interested in its pharmacological treatment. However, there is far less open discussion of the topic of erectile dysfunction between pharmacists and their patients. Many patients describe their complaint using vague terms such as "difficulty sleeping." Maintaining open lines of communication under these circumstances requires a tactful response on the part of the pharmacist.
Patient education overturns taboos
One idea by Bayer Schering Pharma Taiwan is helping to overcome the silences and taboos surrounding the topic of erectile dysfunction. Launched in 2005, the “Thumbs Up” campaign aims to encourage men with erectile dysfunction to seek assistance from their physician or pharmacist. The campaign is based on a simple premise: when the patient signals with the thumbs-up gesture, the pharmacist knows to introduce the topic of erectile dysfunction and provide information on appropriate treatments. Slowly but surely, the old taboos are being overturned.
In 2008 Bayer Schering Pharma extended its scope, initiating a campaign called “Restore the man”. It encourages men to consider erectile dysfunction as one indicator for their personal health rather than something embarrassing.
In the course of his conversations with pharmacists, Yu has also found that pharmacists have a need for high-quality informational material for their customers, the majority of whom are workers and small shop-owners in Taipei. To meet this need, Taisan Yu provides pharmacists with pamphlets and brochures that offer a comprehensive explanation of the topic of erectile dysfunction. The information is designed for both men and women. Pharmacists frequently tell Yu and his staff that this informational support is a crucial help to pharmacists in their advisory role.
On the way up
"Here in Taiwan, direct and effective contact between our sales representatives and the pharmacist clients is the decisive factor," notes Yu. And Bayer Schering Pharma’s success is a testament to this contact. Bayer Schering Pharma is the fastest-growing pharmaceutical company in Taiwan, and the seventh-largest provider of what are termed specialty pharmaceutical products in Taiwan and across the globe.
Life at the top is easy to imagine for visitors to the Taipei Bayer Schering Pharma headquarters. The new offices are located on the 54th and 55th floor of the Taipei 101 Tower, which at 508 meters is one of the tallest buildings in the world. Over the rooftops of Taipei, the head of the Taiwan branch, HanGu Kang, manages the company and its staff of over 220 employees. Although outsiders often refer to the Asian boom economy, this perception is not entirely accurate, as Kang notes. “Outside observers monitor Asia’s growth rates with keen interest. But these growth rates mainly refer to China. By contrast, in Taiwan our market is almost saturated, and is growing at a rate of only three percent.“ In addition, Taiwan is one of the most highly deregulated and privatized markets in the world. Surviving and thriving in the Taiwanese market is a challenge, indeed.
A model health care system
Despite intense competition, Taiwan has managed to keep public welfare a high priority. The health insurance program, which was launched in 1995, functions according to the principle of solidarity and general access, and covers over 95 percent of the population. Delegations from many nations, including countries outside Asia, have visited Taiwan to learn about its health insurance system. Recent visitors include health experts from Saudi Arabia and from the Caribbean island of Santa Lucia. Taiwan is a major player in the global health care landscape.
On the other hand, Taiwan has not been a member of the World Health Organization for nearly 40 years. This is because the People’s Republic of China regards Taiwan as a breakaway province rather than an independent state. This ongoing dispute continues to affect Taiwan’s participation even today.
For Taisan Yu’s day to day work, however, such political considerations are largely secondary. Yu relishes the challenge of the deregulated and highly competitive Taiwanese market, and can often be found working late into the night. One of Yu’s key goals is overturning the taboos to open discussion of erectile dysfunction. To achieve his goal of accessibility to the pharmacists who are his customers, Yu is willing to put in long hours. For Yu, patient education is far more than business as usual.
