The Human Organ Transplantation Act (人體器官移植條例) has been amended to prohibit the use of organs from executed prisoners, as well as the sale, purchase and brokering of organs.
The legislature yesterday passed amendments banning the sale and purchase of organs for transplantation, as well as the use of organs from executed prisoners.
The amendments were made in accordance with international principles and agreements, which say that a state is obligated to be “self-sufficient in organ transplants, ban organ selling and buying, and prevent its commercialization and ‘transplant tourism,’” Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Tien Chiu-chin (田秋堇) said.
According to the Taiwan Organ Registry and Sharing Center, there are at least 7,862 people waiting for organ transplants in the nation, Tien said.
“With the revisions, we have endeavored to expand the scope of organ donation by requiring administrative offices to inquire about people’s intentions upon registering as an organ donor when they apply for [or renew] a driver’s license, National Health Insurance card or national identification card,” Tien said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Hsu Shao-ping (徐少萍) said that restrictions on living-donor transplants have also been relaxed.
For example, with the amendments, transplants from living donors require the consent of only one, rather than two, family members, Hsu said.
Tien said that due to an international shortage of organs, “transplant tourism” has become a pressing issue for medical ethics and human rights, “especially the harvesting and selling of organs from living people.”
“The practice is not only against the principle that organs should not be sold, but also a crime against humanity,” Tien said.
“The law was amended to prohibit the selling, buying and brokering of organs, as well as transplant tourism,” she said.
Following international consensus, organs from executed prisoners are not to be used in the nation, Tien added.
Many Taiwanese go to China for illegal organ transplantations, DPP Legislator Yu Mei-nu (尤美女) said.
“That is why the law was amended to require those who have received organ transplants abroad to provide information to domestic hospitals where they are to receive post-transplant treatment about where the surgery was done and who the surgeons were,” Yu said.
“The domestic hospitals then have to report the cases they deals with,” she added.
Taiwan has arranged for about 8 million barrels of crude oil, or about one-third of its monthly needs, to be shipped from the Red Sea this month to bypass the Strait of Hormuz and ease domestic supply pressures, CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) said yesterday. The state-run oil company has worked with Middle Eastern suppliers to secure routes other than the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 20 percent of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas typically passes, CPC chairman Fang Jeng-zen (方振仁) said at a meeting of the legislature’s Economics Committee in Taipei. Suppliers in Saudi Arabia have indicated they
South Korea has adjusted its electronic arrival card system to no longer list Taiwan as a part of China, a move that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said would help facilitate exchanges between the two sides. South Korea previously listed “Taiwan” as “Taiwan (China)” in the drop-down menus of its online arrival card system, where people had to fill out where they came from and their next destination. The ministry had requested South Korea make a revision and said it would change South Korea’s name on Taiwan’s online immigration system from “Republic of Korea” to “Korea (South),” should the issue not be
CCP ‘PAWN’? Beijing could use the KMT chairwoman’s visit to signal to the world that many people in Taiwan support the ‘one China’ principle, an academic said Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) yesterday arrived in China for a “peace” mission and potential meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), while a Taiwanese minister detailed the number of Chinese warships currently deployed around the nation. Cheng is visiting at a time of increased Chinese military pressure on Taiwan, as the opposition-dominated Legislative Yuan stalls a government plan for US$40 billion in extra defense spending. Speaking to reporters before going to the airport, Cheng said she was going on a “historic journey for peace,” but added that some people felt uneasy about her trip. “If you truly love Taiwan,
Tainan, Taipei and New Taipei City recorded the highest fines nationwide for illegal accommodations in the first quarter of this year, with fines issued in the three cities each exceeding NT$7 million (US$220,639), Tourism Administration data showed. Among them, Taipei had the highest number of illegal short-term rental units, with 410. There were 3,280 legally registered hotels nationwide in the first quarter, down by 14 properties, or 0.43 percent, from a year earlier, likely indicating operators exiting the market, the agency said. However, the number of unregistered properties rose to 1,174, including 314 illegal hotels and 860 illegal short-term rental
RSS