During the occupation of Taiwan, the Japanese began to improve public health, the primary reason being that although the Japanese had been victorious, more troops had died of disease than battle. In the battle of Mutan only some 600 men were killed in combat, while over four thousand died of disease.
日據時期，日人開始改善台灣的公共衛生，主要原因即是日人攻台，雖然獲勝，但病死的兵員比戰死的還多，如一八九五年發生在今天屏東縣境內的牡丹社一役，傷亡的日本官兵人數僅有六百多人，卻有四千多人病亡。