Nauruan Minister of Health Valdon Dowiyogo has completed medical treatment for retinal and macular degeneration, a chronic eye disorder that affects the retina, at Taichung Veterans General Hospital, a hospital ophthalmologist said.
Dowiyogo suffers from macular degeneration and was affected by retinal disorders caused by complications from diabetes, which can eventually lead to blindness, according to Department of Ophthalmology head Chang Chia-jen (張嘉仁).
He had previously undergone eye surgery in Australia, but a medical team from the hospital judged during an international medical mission in Nauru that Dowiyogo required additional medical treatment for his eyes or risk blindness, Chang said.
Dowiyogo arrived in Taiwan in November last year and had undergone four rounds of treatment before completing the regimen on April 10.
Dowiyogo was reportedly quite satisfied with the results of the treatment and was really impressed by Taiwan’s medical service standards and quality, Chang said.
Chang added that the treatment marks a success in international medical diplomacy for the hospital.
Patients with diabetes-related eye problems can usually maintain their sight if they seek medical attention and get therapy early, Chang added.
The hospital signed a memorandum on medical exchanges and cooperation with Nauru in 2011.
The following year, the hospital launched a medical program in the country, under which the hospital has stationed doctors in the country to help enhance its medical and health standards, Chang said.
Former Czech Republic-based Taiwanese researcher Cheng Yu-chin (鄭宇欽) has been sentenced to seven years in prison on espionage-related charges, China’s Ministry of State Security announced yesterday. China said Cheng was a spy for Taiwan who “masqueraded as a professor” and that he was previously an assistant to former Cabinet secretary-general Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰). President-elect William Lai (賴清德) on Wednesday last week announced Cho would be his premier when Lai is inaugurated next month. Today is China’s “National Security Education Day.” The Chinese ministry yesterday released a video online showing arrests over the past 10 years of people alleged to be
THE HAWAII FACTOR: While a 1965 opinion said an attack on Hawaii would not trigger Article 5, the text of the treaty suggests the state is covered, the report says NATO could be drawn into a conflict in the Taiwan Strait if Chinese forces attacked the US mainland or Hawaii, a NATO Defense College report published on Monday says. The report, written by James Lee, an assistant research fellow at Academia Sinica’s Institute of European and American Studies, states that under certain conditions a Taiwan contingency could trigger Article 5 of NATO, under which an attack against any member of the alliance is considered an attack against all members, necessitating a response. Article 6 of the North Atlantic Treaty specifies that an armed attack in the territory of any member in Europe,
LIKE FAMILY: People now treat dogs and cats as family members. They receive the same medical treatments and tests as humans do, a veterinary association official said The number of pet dogs and cats in Taiwan has officially outnumbered the number of human newborns last year, data from the Ministry of Agriculture’s pet registration information system showed. As of last year, Taiwan had 94,544 registered pet dogs and 137,652 pet cats, the data showed. By contrast, 135,571 babies were born last year. Demand for medical care for pet animals has also risen. As of Feb. 29, there were 5,773 veterinarians in Taiwan, 3,993 of whom were for pet animals, statistics from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency showed. In 2022, the nation had 3,077 pediatricians. As of last
XINJIANG: Officials are conducting a report into amending an existing law or to enact a special law to prohibit goods using forced labor Taiwan is mulling an amendment prohibiting the importation of goods using forced labor, similar to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) passed by the US Congress in 2021 that imposed limits on goods produced using forced labor in China’s Xinjiang region. A government official who wished to remain anonymous said yesterday that as the US customs law explicitly prohibits the importation of goods made using forced labor, in 2021 it passed the specialized UFLPA to limit the importation of cotton and other goods from China’s Xinjiang Uyghur region. Taiwan does not have the legal basis to prohibit the importation of goods