The Ministry of Health and Welfare is planning to ease a ban on blood donations by gay men by May at the earliest, allowing them to donate blood five years after their last sexual contact with another man.
Current regulations, which have been enforced for 28 years, impose a lifetime ban on blood donations by men who have had sexual encounters with other men.
However, many countries have abolished such lifelong prohibitions, including the US government, which overturned its 30-year ban on donations by gay men in 2015, instead instituting a 12-month deferral period.
Calling the policy discriminatory, a petition for the removal of the ban was submitted to the government-funded online public policy platform last year, and the ministry held an advisory committee meeting in September last year to discuss the issue.
Committee members suggested that as HIV testing has greatly improved, Taiwan can follow the examples of other countries by setting a deferral period and observing the consequences, Food and Drug Administration medicinal products division deputy chief Chi Jo-feng (祁若鳳) said yesterday.
As the Centers for Disease Control has also suggested setting a deferral period, the ministry is considering lifting the ban and setting the deferral period at five years.
The proposed amendment is still being reviewed and might be announced late next month, with the new policy taking effect in May at the earliest, if there are no strong objections to the proposal.
The proposal also includes a temporary blood donation ban on people who have visited areas where the Zika virus has spread, have been infected by the virus or have had sexual contact with a person infected by the virus.
RESPONSE: The transit sends a message that China’s alignment with other countries would not deter the West from defending freedom of navigation, an academic said Canadian frigate the Ville de Quebec and Australian guided-missile destroyer the Brisbane transited the Taiwan Strait yesterday morning, the first time the two nations have conducted a joint freedom of navigation operation. The Canadian and Australian militaries did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Ministry of National Defense declined to confirm the passage, saying only that Taiwan’s armed forces had deployed surveillance and reconnaissance assets, along with warships and combat aircraft, to safeguard security across the Strait. The two vessels were observed transiting northward along the eastern side of the Taiwan Strait’s median line, with Japan being their most likely destination,
GLOBAL ISSUE: If China annexes Taiwan, ‘it will not stop its expansion there, as it only becomes stronger and has more force to expand further,’ the president said China’s military and diplomatic expansion is not a sole issue for Taiwan, but one that risks world peace, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that Taiwan would stand with the alliance of democratic countries to preserve peace through deterrence. Lai made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). “China is strategically pushing forward to change the international order,” Lai said, adding that China established the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank, launched the Belt and Road Initiative, and pushed for yuan internationalization, because it wants to replace the democratic rules-based international
ECONOMIC BOOST: Should the more than 23 million people eligible for the NT$10,000 handouts spend them the same way as in 2023, GDP could rise 0.5 percent, an official said Universal cash handouts of NT$10,000 (US$330) are to be disbursed late next month at the earliest — including to permanent residents and foreign residents married to Taiwanese — pending legislative approval, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience in Response to International Circumstances (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例). The NT$550 billion special budget includes NT$236 billion for the cash handouts, plus an additional NT$20 billion set aside as reserve funds, expected to be used to support industries. Handouts might begin one month after the bill is promulgated and would be completed within
The National Development Council (NDC) yesterday unveiled details of new regulations that ease restrictions on foreigners working or living in Taiwan, as part of a bid to attract skilled workers from abroad. The regulations, which could go into effect in the first quarter of next year, stem from amendments to the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及僱用法) passed by lawmakers on Aug. 29. Students categorized as “overseas compatriots” would be allowed to stay and work in Taiwan in the two years after their graduation without obtaining additional permits, doing away with the evaluation process that is currently required,
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