Child health in Taiwan lags behind most developed countries, experts said yesterday.
The nation has a higher death rate among children one to nine years old than any Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) country, Taiwan Child and Youth Health Alliance convener Lu Hung-chi (呂鴻基) said at a press conference on children’s rights hosted by National Taiwan University’s Children and Family Research Center.
He added that low-weight births and youth obesity are also high compared with other developed countries.
Lu blamed the high death rate on years of underinvestment in healthcare infrastructure for children.
For example, he said, the nation has only four dedicated children’s hospitals, compared with the hundreds found in many other developed countries.
The press conference was held to mark Universal Children’s Rights Day yesterday.
The government has allocated a budget to fund a new office responsible for the convention’s implementation, Social and Family Administration Deputy Director-General Chen Su-chun (陳素春) said.
She added that the government would focus on educating the public about the convention’s content.
Even as the government moves to promote children’s rights, most mayoral candidates’ platforms are largely silent on the topic, Taiwan Convention on Rights of the Child Alliance secretary-general Lee Li-feng (李麗芬) said.
The alliance’s analysis of the platforms of 55 candidates found that, while many express support for childcare subsidies and nutritious school lunches, few make any mention of more substantial children’s rights issues, with only 13 percent making any mention of health.
At another setting, Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) announced that the nation officially implemented the convention yesterday.
The convention, which was adopted by the UN on Nov. 20, 1989, legally defines and protects children’s rights in a broad range of areas, including the right to life, health, education, safety and development.
Jiang said that the convention’s implementation has brought the nation’s children’s rights protection in compliance with international standards.
The Legislative Yuan passed the Enforcement Act of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (兒童權利公約施行法) on May 20, thereby adopting the treaty into domestic law.
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday met with a group of children to mark Universal Children’s Rights Day.
Ma said that teachers and government officials should pay attention to the personal safety of children, and ensure that students receive a complete education and learn the basic knowledge they need to acquire.
Ma said that when he was Taipei mayor, all students in Taipei had to learn to swim, in light of the frequent drownings involving children and teenagers.
At present, only 55 percent of students around the country pass swimming tests on average, well below the target of 85 percent, Ma said.
Ma also pledged to address the problem of child abuse.
Last year, there were more than 16,000 reported cases of child abuse.
Although the number was 2,800 fewer than in 2012, it remained at a high level, he said.
He said that the government has been working to protect children even when they are still in their mothers’ wombs by allowing expectant mothers to take pregnancy leave.
In addition, Taiwan is one of the few nations in Asia that offers paid parental leave, he said, adding that the policy has so far benefited 250,000 parents.
Taiwan is to commence mass production of the Tien Kung (天弓, “Sky Bow”) III, IV and V missiles by the second quarter of this year if the legislature approves the government’s NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.78 billion) special defense budget, an official said yesterday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said that the advanced systems are expected to provide crucial capabilities against ballistic and cruise missiles for the proposed “T-Dome,” an advanced, multi-layered air defense network. The Tien Kung III is an air defense missile with a maximum interception altitude of 35km. The Tien Kung IV and V
The disruption of 941 flights in and out of Taiwan due to China’s large-scale military exercises was no accident, but rather the result of a “quasi-blockade” used to simulate creating the air and sea routes needed for an amphibious landing, a military expert said. The disruptions occurred on Tuesday and lasted about 10 hours as China conducted live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait. The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said the exercises affected 857 international flights and 84 domestic flights, affecting more than 100,000 travelers. Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the government-sponsored Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said the air
Trips for more than 100,000 international and domestic air travelers could be disrupted as China launches a military exercise around Taiwan today, Taiwan’s Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said yesterday. The exercise could affect nearly 900 flights scheduled to enter the Taipei Flight Information Region (FIR) during the exercise window, it added. A notice issued by the Chinese Civil Aviation Administration showed there would be seven temporary zones around the Taiwan Strait which would be used for live-fire exercises, lasting from 8am to 6pm today. All aircraft are prohibited from entering during exercise, it says. Taipei FIR has 14 international air routes and
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
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