■SOCIETY
Taipei to hold Muslim event
The Taipei City Government will hold a celebration at Taipei Jinhua Junior High School on Sunday morning to celebrate the end of Ramadan with a prayer service and performances by Muslim groups. Ramadan falls in the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, with Muslims around the world fasting from dawn until sunset. This year’s Ramadan began on Aug. 20 and ended on Sept. 19. The celebration, which will be held from 9am to 3pm on Sunday, will provide a chance for about 23,000 Indonesian workers in Taipei City to gather and celebrate the event, Taipei City’s Department of Labor Affairs said. Foreign labor groups in Taipei and Kaohsiung, Tainan and Taoyuan counties will give performances, the department said.
■HEALTH
DOH warns against drugs
The Department of Health’s (DOH) Bureau of Health Promotion yesterday urged the public not to abuse their kidneys by taking unnecessary drugs, saying approximately 10 percent of the population suffered from chronic kidney problems. “The most important thing is to avoid unnecessary non-prescription drugs,” said Hsu Jui-hsiang (徐瑞祥), head of the bureau’s Adult and Senior Citizen Health Promotion Section. A recent poll showed that approximately 10.2 percent of males and 9.4 percent of females above the age of 20 suffer from chronic kidney disease. For those above the age of 60, the figure stands at approximately 66 percent. The research also showed that people with kidney problems also suffer from high blood pressure, diabetes and high cholesterol. The bureau advised people not to trust exaggerated drug advertisements, not to purchase drugs anywhere other than a pharmacy and not to take drugs given to them by people who are not pharmacists.
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