Doctors at a geriatric conference in Taipei yesterday said that despite the fact that advancements in the medical field had helped extend the average life expectancy of people, there was still room for improvement in care for the elderly, especially in the field of mental health.
Chen Liang-kung (陳亮恭), Chief of Taipei Veterans General Hospital’s Division of Geriatric Medicine, told the conference that in the past, when Taiwan’s average life expectancy was below 70 years, the average person needed to be personally looked after for about five to seven years. Now, that number has risen to seven to nine years despite a higher life expectancy of about 80 years, he said.
“This shows that even though we’ve successfully extended people’s lives, we haven’t been able to ensure that patients spend the last years enjoying a high quality of life,” said Chen, adding that Taiwan should follow the WHO’s goal of ensuring physical and mental health for those over 80 years old, with an average life expectancy of 85 years.
Shiu Ruei-shiang (徐瑞祥), Director of the Bureau of Health Promotion’s Division of Adult and Elderly Health, said Taiwan would strive to answer WHO calls for “active aging” with a series of projects focused on elderly physical and mental health, coupled with community involvement.
Several doctors who spoke at the conference also pointed to the rising suicide rate among elderly people, which has climbed to an all-time high, as one of their top concerns and called for more to be done to lower.
The German city of Hamburg on Oct. 14 named a bridge “Kaohsiung-Brucke” after the Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung. The footbridge, formerly known as F566, is to the east of the Speicherstadt, the world’s largest warehouse district, and connects the Dar-es-Salaam-Platz to the Brooktorpromenade near the Port of Hamburg on the Elbe River. Timo Fischer, a Free Democratic Party member of the Hamburg-Mitte District Assembly, in May last year proposed the name change with support from members of the Social Democratic Party and the Christian Democratic Union. Kaohsiung and Hamburg in 1999 inked a sister city agreement, but despite more than a quarter-century of
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday expressed “grave concerns” after Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) reiterated the city-state’s opposition to “Taiwanese independence” during a meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang (李強). In Singapore on Saturday, Wong and Li discussed cross-strait developments, the Singaporean Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. “Prime Minister Wong reiterated that Singapore has a clear and consistent ‘one China’ policy and is opposed to Taiwan independence,” it said. MOFA responded that it is an objective fact and a common understanding shared by many that the Republic of China (ROC) is an independent, sovereign nation, with world-leading
Temperatures in northern Taiwan are forecast to reach as high as 30°C today, as an ongoing northeasterly seasonal wind system weakens, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said yesterday that with the seasonal wind system weakening, warmer easterly winds would boost the temperature today. Daytime temperatures in northern Taiwan and Yilan County are expected to range from 28°C to 30°C today, up about 3°C from yesterday, Tseng said. According to the CWA, temperature highs in central and southern Taiwan could stay stable. However, the weather is expected to turn cooler starting tonight as the northeasterly wind system strengthens again
The Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau (MJIB) has been investigating nine shell companies working with Prince Holding Group, and the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office is seeking further prosecution of alleged criminals, a source said yesterday. The nine companies and three Taiwanese nationals were named by the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on Oct. 14 as Specially Designated Nationals as a result of a US federal court indictment. Prince Holding founder Chen Zhi (陳志) has been charged with fraud, conspiracy, money laundering and overseeing Prince Holding’s suspected forced-labor camps in Cambodia, the indictment says. Intelligence shared between Taiwan,
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