Around 200 medical professionals, 90 percent of whom are Aborigi-nals, have applied to the Ministry of the Interior to register as the first medical society to focus on the health of Aborigines in Taiwan.
The Aboriginal Medical Society
"The first matter we plan to get involved with is the ethical principles for gene research," said Lin Ching-feng
Lin said gene research targeting Aborigines has been a contentious issue for decades in Taiwan.
"A handful of Hakka have also been targeted because they are also more socially isolated than other Han people," Lin pointed out.
Aware of this problem, the health department initiated an interdepartmental discussion within the government, which is continuing, over the ethical principles for gene research, Lin said.
It has been reported that some Aborigines had blood drawn more than 10 times a month because various free health checks were conducted in the same remote village. All of the blood extracted for research purposes so far has been extracted in the course of free health checks.
But some Aboriginal groups and researchers have complained that the need for informed consent was ignored.
Apart from ethical principles, the society also plans to focus its research on certain specific diseases, such as gout and alcoholism, that have a higher prevalence in Aboriginal communities.
"We hope to see an Aboriginal-oriented health awareness for these kinds of diseases for DOH policy making," said Tung Sen
Living in the shadow of mainstream society has caused Aborigines to suffer, both physically and mentally, Tung said.
"The society hopes to highlight our differences from Han people in cultural and social respects, as well as in the types of pandemic diseases to which we are susceptible," he said, adding that it also hopes to influence future health policy.
According to official statistics, the mortality rate among Aborigines is 2.5 times higher than the national average rate. The first and third most prevalent causes of death among Aborigines, accidents (over 80 percent of which are car crashes) and liver diseases respectively have been shown to be related to alcohol abuse.
"The majority of people who die from these two causes are young and middle-aged," Lin said.
The average life expectancy of Aborigines is 10 to 12 years less than that of the nation as a whole.
The government has officially identified nine Aboriginal groups. The Ministry of the Interior says that approximately 400,000 of Taiwan's population of 22 million are Aborigines.
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
RESTAURANT POISONING? Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang at a press conference last night said this was the first time bongkrekic acid was detected in Taiwan An autopsy discovered bongkrekic acid in a specimen collected from a person who died from food poisoning after dining at the Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said at a news conference last night. It was the first time bongkrekic acid was detected in Taiwan, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said. The testing conducted by forensic specialists at National Taiwan University was facilitated after a hospital voluntarily offered standard samples it had in stock that are required to test for bongkrekic acid, he said. Wang told the news conference that testing would continue despite
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)