The voluntary accreditation for aesthetic medical facilities promoted by the Ministry of Health and Welfare has failed to uphold its credibility, the Taiwan Women’s Link and Legislator Wu Yi-chen (吳宜臻) said yesterday, adding that a majority of facilities remain non-certified and some that have received certification have been found breaking the law.
One year has passed since the ministry started the accreditation scheme, but only 43, or 5 percent, of the nearly 800 aesthetic medical facilities in the country have applied for certification, the group said.
The number of those that have been successfully certified is even lower, Taiwan Woman’s Link director-general Huang Shu-ying (黃淑英) said.
Only 25 of the 43 facilities that applied have passed the evaluation, accounting for 3 percent of the total number of the facilities.
Not only have many aesthetic clinic chains operated by corporates remained non-certified, a majority of the 43 public hospitals with aesthetic medical centers also failed to take part in the government’s initiative, with only Veterans General Hospitals in Taipei, Greater Taichung and Greater Kaohsiung procuring the certificate, Huang said.
She added that 20 percent of the few facilities that have been accredited violate the law on a regular basis by providing Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) treatment that has not been through clinical trials, and 40 percent are marketing aesthetic medical therapies on their official Web sites, which is illegal.
“Skin whitening injections [using PRP] have so far not been approved, so the advertisements we see on the streets should all be examined and curbed as they are very likely in violation of the law,” Wu said.
The group added that at least two certified aesthetic clinics are recommending therapies, offering consultations and medical diagnoses made by non-medical workers.
The ministry’s Department of Medical Affairs Director Lee Wui-chiang (李偉強) said in response that any medical facility advertising or conducting PRP treatments or skin whitening injections are in violation of the Medical Care Act (醫療法), and promotional activities or discounts for medical therapies are also in violation of regulations concerning advertisements for medical care.
Lee said that those that have obtained the certification, but failed to abide by the rules would be either stripped of the accreditation, temporarily or for good, adding that the certification system is not the government’s only supervisory measure, as the ministry has requested local health authorities to closely monitor aesthetic medical facilities on various fronts and is further expanding the inspection this year.
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
The Chinese military has built landing bridge ships designed to expand its amphibious options for a potential assault on Taiwan, but their combat effectiveness is limited due to their high vulnerability, a defense expert said in an analysis published on Monday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a research fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said that the deployment of such vessels as part of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy’s East Sea Fleet signals a strong focus on Taiwan. However, the ships are highly vulnerable to precision strikes, which means they could be destroyed before they achieve their intended
About 4.2 million tourist arrivals were recorded in the first half of this year, a 10 percent increase from the same period last year, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. The growth continues to be consistent, with the fourth quarter of this year expected to be the peak in Taiwan, the agency said, adding that it plans to promote Taiwan overseas via partnerships and major events. From January to June, 9.14 million international departures were recorded from Taiwan, an 11 percent increase from the same period last year, with 3.3 million headed for Japan, 1.52 million for China and 832,962 to South Korea,
REWRITING HISTORY: China has been advocating a ‘correct’ interpretation of the victory over Japan that brings the CCP’s contributions to the forefront, an expert said An elderly Chinese war veteran’s shin still bears the mark of a bullet wound he sustained when fighting the Japanese as a teenager, a year before the end of World War II. Eighty years on, Li Jinshui’s scar remains as testimony to the bravery of Chinese troops in a conflict that killed millions of their people. However, the story behind China’s overthrow of the brutal Japanese occupation is deeply contested. Historians broadly agree that credit for victory lies primarily with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)-led Republic of China (ROC) Army. Its leader, Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石), fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing a
RSS