While dire warnings of a possible AIDS surge in this country grabbed the limelight during the opening of the 7th Taipei Conference on HIV/AIDS yesterday, the safety of Taiwanese businesspeople in the China also prompted concerns.
The latest statistics shows that there are 6,255 people living with AIDS in this country since its first case was reported in 1984. The incidence of HIV infection has increased by approximately 15 percent every year since 1997.
Given society's more open attitude to sex and changing behavioral patterns, the virus is threatening to spill beyond traditional high-risk groups such as gay men and drug users.
"If we fail to take strict measures to curb the epidemic, there will be 13,258 AIDS cases by 2010 and 40,655 by 2020," said Twu Shiing-jer (
"The number of reported HIV/AIDS cases is expected to exceed 1,000 in 2004 alone," Twu said.
The government has made substantial efforts to halt the spread of the disease. In 2001, an AIDS Prevention Commission was founded under the Executive Yuan to coordinate anti-AIDS campaigns.
Yet, according to Twu, attempts to rein in AIDS and to promote patients' rights remains an uphill battle. For instance, the mass media has done little to reduce the stigma attached to AIDS.
"Reporting often lacks real understanding of the disease. Sometimes, the stories fall into sensationalism and reinforce stereotypes of HIV carriers," Twu said.
Even some health professionals are reportedly indifferent to HIV-positive people infected.
"The separate AIDS wards in hospitals is proof of doctors' and nurses' discrimination against AIDS patients. We hope someday the AIDS patients will be able to seek diagnosis in whatever department they need to go. AIDS patients have the right to receive equal treatment as patients of any other infectious disease do," Twu said.
The government also came under fire for its lack of originality and urgency in its anti-AIDS campaign. Twu said policymakers are out of the touch with social workers and medical professionals who deal with patients face-to-face.
"We need to keep up with chan-ging social tides. How can you preach abstinence and fidelity when your son and daughter may be on their way to a home party?" said Shih Wen-yi (施文儀), deputy director-general of the Center for Disease Control (CDC).
Experts also warned that the nation must step up its preventative efforts as many Asian countries are on the brink of an AIDS disaster. In many Southeast Asian countries, the disease has quickly spread from drug addicts to commercial sex workers and to the greater public.
According to Dr. Roger Detels, commercial sex workers are a continuing reservoir of infection for men across country boundaries. In this country, men who travel to Thailand, Vietnam, or China to buy sex are at high risk, as are men who marry foreign women who have not had health check-ups.
O.C. Lin (連愛珠), the chief executive of Hong Kong AIDS Foundation, provided some staggering figures to the conference.
"Official figures shows that there are 840,000 people infected with HIV in China. But international health experts believe that the real figure lies between 1.5 million and 2 million," Lin said.
Given the Chinese government's cryptic attitude about any infection outbreak, experts believe that the official estimates are just the tip of an iceberg.
Health officials appealed to businesspeople working in China, urging them to take steps to protect themselves.
"We advise Taiwanese to avoid sexual activity in China. If they become involved in sexual activities, practicing safe sex is of paramount importance," CDC Deputy Director Lin Ding (
Also see story:
The combined effect of the monsoon, the outer rim of Typhoon Fengshen and a low-pressure system is expected to bring significant rainfall this week to various parts of the nation, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The heaviest rain is expected to occur today and tomorrow, with torrential rain expected in Keelung’s north coast, Yilan and the mountainous regions of Taipei and New Taipei City, the CWA said. Rivers could rise rapidly, and residents should stay away from riverbanks and avoid going to the mountains or engaging in water activities, it said. Scattered showers are expected today in central and
COOPERATION: Taiwan is aligning closely with US strategic objectives on various matters, including China’s rare earths restrictions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Taiwan could deal with China’s tightened export controls on rare earth metals by turning to “urban mining,” a researcher said yesterday. Rare earth metals, which are used in semiconductors and other electronic components, could be recovered from industrial or electronic waste to reduce reliance on imports, National Cheng Kung University Department of Resources Engineering professor Lee Cheng-han (李政翰) said. Despite their name, rare earth elements are not actually rare — their abundance in the Earth’s crust is relatively high, but they are dispersed, making extraction and refining energy-intensive and environmentally damaging, he said, adding that many countries have opted to
CONCESSION: A Shin Kong official said that the firm was ‘willing to contribute’ to the nation, as the move would enable Nvidia Crop to build its headquarters in Taiwan Shin Kong Life Insurance Co (新光人壽) yesterday said it would relinquish land-use rights, or known as surface rights, for two plots in Taipei’s Beitou District (北投), paving the way for Nvidia Corp to expand its office footprint in Taiwan. The insurer said it made the decision “in the interest of the nation’s greater good” and would not seek compensation from taxpayers for potential future losses, calling the move a gesture to resolve a months-long impasse among the insurer, the Taipei City Government and the US chip giant. “The decision was made on the condition that the Taipei City Government reimburses the related
African swine fever was confirmed at a pig farm in Taichung, the Ministry of Agriculture said today, prompting a five-day nationwide ban on transporting and slaughtering pigs, and marking the loss of Taiwan’s status as the only Asian nation free of all three major swine diseases. The ministry held a news conference today confirming that the virus was detected at a farm in Wuci District (梧棲) yesterday evening. Authorities preemptively culled 195 pigs at the farm at about 3am and disinfected the entire site to prevent the disease from spreading, the ministry said. Authorities also set up a 3km-radius control zone
RSS