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 Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is pushing for residents of Kinmen and Lienchiang counties to acquire Chinese ID cards in a bid to “blur national identities,” a source said. The efforts are part of China’s promotion of a “Kinmen-Xiamen twin-city living sphere, including a cross-strait integration pilot zone in China’s Fujian Province,” the source said. “The CCP is already treating residents of these outlying islands as Chinese citizens. It has also intensified its ‘united front’ efforts and infiltration of those islands,” the source said. “There is increasing evidence of espionage in Kinmen, particularly of Taiwanese military personnel being recruited by the
ENTERTAINERS IN CHINA: Taiwanese generally back the government being firm on infiltration and ‘united front’ work,’ the Asia-Pacific Elite Interchange Association said Most people support the government probing Taiwanese entertainers for allegedly “amplifying” the Chinese Communist Party’s propaganda, a survey conducted by the Asia-Pacific Elite Interchange Association showed on Friday. Public support stood at 56.4 percent for action by the Mainland Affairs Council and the Ministry of Culture to enhance scrutiny on Taiwanese performers and artists who have developed careers in China while allegedly adhering to the narrative of Beijing’s propaganda that denigrates or harms Taiwanese sovereignty, the poll showed. Thirty-three percent did not support the action, it showed. The poll showed that 51.5 percent of respondents supported the government’s investigation into Taiwanese who have
South Korean K-pop girl group Blackpink are to make Kaohsiung the first stop on their Asia tour when they perform at Kaohsiung National Stadium on Oct. 18 and 19, the event organizer said yesterday. The upcoming performances will also make Blackpink the first girl group ever to perform twice at the stadium. It will be the group’s third visit to Taiwan to stage a concert. The last time Blackpink held a concert in the city was in March 2023. Their first concert in Taiwan was on March 3, 2019, at NTSU Arena (Linkou Arena). The group’s 2022-2023 “Born Pink” tour set a
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