A medical team from Kaohsiung’s Chang Gung Memorial Hospital has recently returned from a two-week humanitarian mission to diplomatic ally Guatemala. The 17-member team treated 3,000 people, pulling 209 teeth and performing six cleft lip and palate operations on children. It was also agreed to send 20 Guatemalan medical personnel to Taiwan every year to receive training.
Dr Chen Tsao-long, the mission leader, said this was the largest international task force the hospital had ever assembled and that they took enough personnel, equipment and medicine with them to set up an entire hospital.
The security situation in Guatemala has deteriorated of late meaning guns are easy to come by, robberies are up and reports of kidnappings are all too common. The Guatemalan government therefore deployed an armed police escort to accompany the medics in order to ensure their safety.
photo: Chen Chao-lung
自由時報記者方志賢
One member of the team said that the local medical facilities were very basic, and even the anesthesia machine was broken. They managed to borrow a smaller one and in the end they successfully carried out six operations on children over a three-day period.
Guatemala doesn’t have many cancer patients so the team’s oncologist doubled as a family doctor treating patients from three months old to 80 years old. The Guatemalan president and first lady received the medical team and a memorandum of understanding promoting closer medical ties between the countries was signed.
(LIBERTY TIMES, TRANSLATED BY TAIJING WU)
PHOTO: CHEN CHAO-LUNG
照片:自由時報記者陳肇隆
高雄長庚醫院醫療團隊結束兩週友邦瓜地馬拉人道醫療,十七人的醫療團服務了三千人次。他們拔了兩百零九顆牙,為六名病童做了唇顎裂手術,未來每年還提供二十名瓜國醫護人員來台受訓。
高雄長庚行動醫療團隊領軍的院長陳肇隆表示,這次國際醫療是高雄長庚歷年組團出國醫療服務規模最大一次,參加人員及攜帶器材與藥品足以組成一所醫院。
當地治安惡化、槍枝氾濫,搶案、綁票案頻傳,為確保醫療團成員人身安全,瓜國政府都派出警車及武警持槍隨行保護。
團裡一位成員說,當地醫療儀器簡陋,連麻醉機也故障,最後借來小型麻醉機,手術才順利進行,實際手術約三天,成功為六名病童完成手術。
瓜國癌症患者很少,腫瘤科的醫師充當家醫科,義診對象從三個月小嬰兒到八十歲老人全看了。義診期間,瓜國副總統及第一夫人分別接見醫療團,雙方也簽署合作備忘錄,加強兩國醫療合作。
(自由時報記者方志賢)
The strongest earthquake to hit Taiwan in 25 years killed at least 16 people and damaged dozens of buildings, but the destruction was largely contained thanks to decades of preparedness work. Taiwan sits on the “Ring of Fire,” an arc of intense seismic activity along the Pacific Rim, and — much like neighboring Japan — has a long history of catastrophic quakes. How does April 3 compare with other recent quakes? The April 3 earthquake, which measured 7.4 on the moment magnitude scale, was felt across Taiwan. It was the most severe since a 7.6 magnitude quake in 1999 killed
Around the time of the Dragon Boat Festival in June, the streets of Taiwan are filled with the delightful aroma of zongzi, a traditional snack made of sticky rice wrapped in leaves. The leaves are folded into a cone and then filled with sticky rice and other ingredients such as braised pork belly, peanuts and salted duck egg yolks. The filled leaves are then tightly tied with kitchen twine and ready for cooking. 每到六月端午時節,街頭巷尾就會飄出粽子的香氣。粽子是將糯米包進粽葉的傳統美食,先將粽葉折成圓錐狀塞入糯米,以及紅燒肉、花生、鹹鴨蛋黃等配料,用棉線綁緊後即可烹煮。 Dragon Boat Festival (n. phr.) 端午節 aroma
Everyone has seen a piece of fruit turn brown after being cut. Have you ever wondered why that happens? It is a common phenomenon that occurs due to a chemical reaction called enzymatic browning. The appearance, flavor and nutritional value of the fruit are all affected by this reaction. Some fruits, such as apples, pears, bananas, avocados and peaches, are more prone to enzymatic browning than others. These fruits contain high levels of an enzyme called polyphenol oxidase, or PPO for short. __1__ This causes a chain of chemical reactions that ultimately transforms the phenolic compounds into
A: As well as Eid al-Fitr, Southeast Asia is celebrating the Water Festival this week. B: And this year, Thailand is expanding the celebration between April 12 and 16 for the event, officially known as the Songkran Festival, expecting to make 24.3 billion Thai baht in tourism revenue. A: Does Taiwan celebrate the Water Festival? B: Some local cities and counties do have similar activities. A: Let’s go experience the festival then. A: 除了「開齋節」外,東南亞「潑水節」本週也盛大登場! B: 泰國今年從4月12日到16日擴大「宋干節」連假,預估觀光收入可高達243億泰銖。 A: 台灣會慶祝「潑水節」嗎? B: 有些縣市會舉辦類似活動。 A: 那我們也去體驗一下吧。 (By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times/台北時報張聖恩)