When suspected cases of SARS were reported at a public housing complex in Taipei's Wanhua District, people were worried that local transmission might have finally broken out. But no mass infection was found at the complex. Instead, SARS has attacked several hospitals -- Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Mackay Memorial Hospital in Taipei and National Taiwan University Hospital.
Even Lee Ming-liang (
One longstanding problem is that the plan to classify and allocate different types of patients to different levels of medical institutions around the country has not been implemented effectively. The lack of front-line clinics to screen patients has meant, with the arrival of SARS, that everyone arriving at major hospital to seek treatment -- whatever their ailment -- is a potential SARS risk. On top of this, most Taiwanese have the habit of going to different hospitals or clinics instead of sticking to one doctor or facility during a course of treatment. As a result, it is extremely difficult to trace patients' medical histories and their records.
More critical to the current crisis is the inequitable distribution of medical resources and inadequate supplies. It is a long-standing problem but one that has proven deadly now. Front-line health-care workers have been exposed to unnecessary risks because of a shortage of protective gear. When the Taipei Municipal Hoping Hospital was sealed off on April 24, its medical staff protested that they didn't have enough masks and protective suits and that sealing off the hospital without giving them sufficient protective gear was tantamount to sending them to the grave. We heard similar pleas when National Taiwan University Hospital closed its emergency depart-ment. Now there are reports of staff at some hospitals having to make do with one N95 mask per week.
A shortage of face masks on the market is a public relations problem for the government, given that the World Health Organization says the average person on the street doesn't need to wear one. The lack of sufficient supplies of protective gear for medical personnel -- face masks, gowns, goggles, gloves and caps -- is a national catastrophe. The Executive Yuan finally ordered a crackdown on hoarders of face masks and requisitioned imported masks that have been sitting in customs warehouses to be claimed by importers. A more important question is what it is doing to ensure health workers get what they need.
Department of Health Director-General Twu Shing-jer (
Two months after SARS spread to this country, the public is now quite aware of the dangers of the disease, but no one wants treatment centers dedicated to SARS cases in their neighborhood. The government says the SARS outbreak is a national security threat. Well, words are not enough. The government must demonstrate that it can respond quickly and act decisively. It must stand tough when controversial measures are needed and do what is best for all of the people of this country, without regard to how such tactics will play in terms of next year's elections. This is a war that no one can afford to lose.
Saudi Arabian largesse is flooding Egypt’s cultural scene, but the reception is mixed. Some welcome new “cooperation” between two regional powerhouses, while others fear a hostile takeover by Riyadh. In Cairo, historically the cultural capital of the Arab world, Egyptian Minister of Culture Nevine al-Kilany recently hosted Saudi Arabian General Entertainment Authority chairman Turki al-Sheikh. The deep-pocketed al-Sheikh has emerged as a Medici-like patron for Egypt’s cultural elite, courted by Cairo’s top talent to produce a slew of forthcoming films. A new three-way agreement between al-Sheikh, Kilany and United Media Services — a multi-media conglomerate linked to state intelligence that owns much of
The US and other countries should take concrete steps to confront the threats from Beijing to avoid war, US Representative Mario Diaz-Balart said in an interview with Voice of America on March 13. The US should use “every diplomatic economic tool at our disposal to treat China as what it is... to avoid war,” Diaz-Balart said. Giving an example of what the US could do, he said that it has to be more aggressive in its military sales to Taiwan. Actions by cross-party US lawmakers in the past few years such as meeting with Taiwanese officials in Washington and Taipei, and
The Republic of China (ROC) on Taiwan has no official diplomatic allies in the EU. With the exception of the Vatican, it has no official allies in Europe at all. This does not prevent the ROC — Taiwan — from having close relations with EU member states and other European countries. The exact nature of the relationship does bear revisiting, if only to clarify what is a very complicated and sensitive idea, the details of which leave considerable room for misunderstanding, misrepresentation and disagreement. Only this week, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) received members of the European Parliament’s Delegation for Relations
Denmark’s “one China” policy more and more resembles Beijing’s “one China” principle. At least, this is how things appear. In recent interactions with the Danish state, such as applying for residency permits, a Taiwanese’s nationality would be listed as “China.” That designation occurs for a Taiwanese student coming to Denmark or a Danish citizen arriving in Denmark with, for example, their Taiwanese partner. Details of this were published on Sunday in an article in the Danish daily Berlingske written by Alexander Sjoberg and Tobias Reinwald. The pretext for this new practice is that Denmark does not recognize Taiwan as a state under