Taiwanese-American HIV/AIDS academic David Ho (何大一) is one of several overseas consultants who are helping with the treatment of the victims of a recent organ transplant scandal in which they were given HIV-infected organs, Centers for Disease Control Director-General Chang Feng-yee (張峰義) said.
“We have assembled a group of medical professionals to care for the five transplant recipients and the team members have consulted foreign experts, including Ho, on the best courses of treatment for the patients,” Chang said.
The five victims — four at National Taiwan University Hospital in Taipei and one at National Cheng Kung University Hospital in Tainan — are taking post--transplant anti-rejection drugs and post-exposure anti-viral medication, Chang said.
“All the foreign experts with whom we have consulted, including Ho, agree that the anti-viral medication that we have prescribed to the five patients will not inhibit the function of the anti-rejection medication,” Chang said, adding that the therapy the patients are receiving is the most appropriate choice of drug combinations.
The five patients received organ transplants from a brain-dead HIV-positive donor on Aug. 24 and Aug. 25 and began to take preventive anti-viral medication on Aug. 26, Chang said.
“They have to take the drug combination for three months, at which point the medical team will then assess whether the drug regimen should be continued or can be stopped,” Chang said, adding that HIV infection cannot be confirmed until six months after the end of drug therapy.
Liao Hsueh-tsung (廖學聰), director of Taipei Medical University Hospital’s AIDS therapy center, said that in 2000, a patient took post-exposure anti-viral medication for nine months after receiving an HIV-contaminated blood transfusion.
The patient tested negative six months after he ended the drug regimen, he said.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
Taiwan will now have four additional national holidays after the Legislative Yuan passed an amendment today, which also made Labor Day a national holiday for all sectors. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) used their majority in the Legislative Yuan to pass the amendment to the Act on Implementing Memorial Days and State Holidays (紀念日及節日實施辦法), which the parties jointly proposed, in its third and final reading today. The legislature passed the bill to amend the act, which is currently enforced administratively, raising it to the legal level. The new legislation recognizes Confucius’ birthday on Sept. 28, the
The Taipei District Court sentenced babysitters Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱) and Liu Jou-lin (劉若琳) to life and 18 years in prison respectively today for causing the death of a one-year-old boy in December 2023. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said that Liu Tsai-hsuan was entrusted with the care of a one-year-old boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), in August 2023 by the Child Welfare League Foundation. From Sept. 1 to Dec. 23 that year, she and her sister Liu Jou-lin allegedly committed acts of abuse against the boy, who was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries on Dec. 24, 2023, but did not
RSS