A unified bone bank was established by 11 Department of Health-affiliated hospitals yesterday, which health officials said will help improve the allocation and availability of human bone tissue for use in surgery.
Chen Hsing-yuan (陳興源), an orthopedic surgeon at the Taipei Hospital, said the supply of bone was limited due to traditional beliefs that maintain the importance of leaving corpses whole.
"Even those who are willing to donate their major organs are sometimes unwilling to donate their bones," he told the news conference yesterday.
Estimates reveal that only around 17 percent of organ donors opt to donate their bones.
"We are trying to educate people about how much donated bone can help others," Chen said.
Bone tissue from just one donor can help dozens of patients including those who need bone reconstruction after serious injury, spinal fusion surgery and artificial joint replacements, he said. There is no perfect substitute for human bone for some surgical procedures, he said
Chen used the example of Ms. Hsu (
"If we had put in an artificial joint, she would likely have to deal with the repeated failure of the joint during the course of her life," Chen said. "However, since we used human bone tissue, the repairs were able to knit perfectly with her existing bone and her joint is perfectly sound."
There are artificial joints made out of titanium, he said, but they are very expensive and inferior to human bone tissue.
Family members need not be afraid that the removal of bone will impact the appearance of the body.
"Of course we ensure that the bones are replaced with supporting materials so that the body will appear the same," he said.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
Tropical Storm Fung-Wong would likely strengthen into a typhoon later today as it continues moving westward across the Pacific before heading in Taiwan’s direction next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Fung-Wong was about 2,190km east-southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving westward at 25kph and possibly accelerating to 31kph, CWA data showed. The tropical storm is currently over waters east of the Philippines and still far from Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said, adding that it could likely strengthen into a typhoon later in the day. It is forecast to reach the South China Sea
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
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