Taiwan will stage its first nationwide emergency drill for extreme 40°C heat next year, authorities said on Wednesday, as heat-related injuries among older people have surged to their highest level in a decade amid intensifying summer temperatures.
Cases of heat injury among the elderly rose to 791 in 2024 – two-and-a-half times the level recorded ten years ago – the environment ministry said, adding that hospital treatment costs now total about TW$28 million (US$870,000) annually.
The ministry said it is working to build a heat-risk map and early warning system for vulnerable groups, particularly children and senior citizens, as climate change drives more frequent and intense heatwaves.
In July, Taiwan’s climate agency launched a nationwide “Cool Map”, a public online tool that helps residents locate nearby air-conditioned shelters to reduce the risk of heat illness. The map now lists around 5,000 cooling locations, including convenience stores, supermarkets and public facilities equipped with air conditioning, drinking water, seating and accessible toilets.
Yet officials said social barriers remain. Many elderly people living alone without home air conditioning feel embarrassed to enter shops just to cool off without making a purchase, a cultural hesitation that limits usage of the scheme.
7-Eleven, Taiwan’s largest convenience store chain, provides 2,673 cooling points across the island’s six biggest cities and has said customers are welcome to rest inside regardless of whether they buy anything.
Deputy head of the climate agency Hsu Hsu-cheng said cooling shelters are still heavily concentrated in urban centres and dominated by private businesses.
“Authorities plan to expand coverage to rural counties and more public sites, such as community centres and long-term care facilities,” Hsu said.
As the number of cooling points grows, the government will also introduce a public feedback system to assess safety, accessibility and service quality, he added.
In recent years, governments across Asia have increased measures to address the public health risks of urban heatwaves. For instance, Singapore’s national heatwave response plan, launched in March, proposed that public cooling spaces be established in comunity centres and indoor sports halls, while Hong Kong’s public heat shelters were open as recently as October to allow residents to take refuge from the heat.
In Japan, authorities launched a dedicated “Special Heatstroke Alert” system this year, covering the period from April until October. By late July 2025, daytime temperatures had soared above 35°C in more than 270 observation points nationwide, prompting emergency advisories across the country.
Japanese firms have begun enforcing stricter outdoor work-rest cycles and shifting schedules to protect workers from heat stress.
According to the World Meteorological Organization’s State of the Climate in Asia 2024 report, the region warmed by about 1.04°C above the 1991 to 2020 baseline, nearly twice the global average warming rate.
Heat response care system in Tainan
Separately, Taiwan has also launched a three-tier heat response care system for the elderly in the southern city of Tainan, where heat-related illnesses among older residents have surged more than fivefold in a decade.
Under the new framework, routine monitoring is triggered when indoor temperatures exceed 32°C. Welfare teams will conduct proactive welfare checks when temperatures are forecast to reach 34°C within three to six hours, and emergency onsite assistance is activated once temperatures rise above 36°C.
Chang Ken-mu, a public health official involved in the programme, said elderly people already experience a perceived body temperature of around 37°C when indoor temperatures reach 32°C, at which point discomfort typically begins and social welfare support is required.
Tainan was selected as the pilot site because more than 20 per cent of its population is elderly and it records the highest number of heat-risk hours and high-temperature exposure days nationwide, Chang said. The city has also seen one of Taiwan’s sharpest increases in heat-related medical visits among seniors.
Authorities plan to expand the model nationwide and use it to precisely identify and support the most vulnerable 5 per cent of elderly people living alone who face the highest heat-injury risks.
The ministry’s announcement came after Taiwan’s Central Weather Administration (CWA) said last month that the island was moving to classify extreme heat as a disaster-level weather event.
The move would pave the way for official “high-temperature leave” policies as the island braces for more frequent and prolonged bouts of extreme weather.
