Draft legislation allowing HIV-positive people to donate organs to HIV-positive patients passed a preliminary review by a legislative committee on Thursday, a move that could save lives.
The HIV Infection Control and Patient Rights Protection Act (人類免疫缺乏病毒傳染防治及感染者權益保障條例) currently bans individuals who are HIV-positive from donating blood and providing organs, tissue, body fluids or cells for transplantation or use by others.
The draft states that HIV patients in need of organ transplants can sign an agreement to accept organs from HIV-positive donors.
The amendment on Thursday passed a preliminary review by the Legislative Yuan’s Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee.
There is a shortage of organs available for transplant in Taiwan, and the passing of the amendment could help alleviate pressure for some on the waiting list, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) said, adding that the amendment would not trigger the spread of HIV, because both the donor and the recipient would be HIV-positive.
The demand for organs far outstrips supply, the Taiwan Organ Registry and Sharing Center said.
There are more than 9,000 people waiting for organ transplants in Taiwan, but only 339 people donated organs nationwide last year, center statistics showed.
Based on statistics from countries that allow such transplants, health officials estimate that about 60 HIV patients might choose to donate their organs each year.
The inspection equipment and data transmission system for new robotic dogs that Taipei is planning to use for sidewalk patrols were developed by a Taiwanese company, the city’s New Construction Office said today, dismissing concerns that the China-made robots could pose a security risk. The city is bringing in smart robotic dogs to help with sidewalk inspections, Taipei Deputy Mayor Lee Ssu-chuan (李四川) said on Facebook. Equipped with a panoramic surveillance system, the robots would be able to automatically flag problems and easily navigate narrow sidewalks, making inspections faster and more accurate, Lee said. By collecting more accurate data, they would help Taipei
STATS: Taiwan’s average life expectancy of 80.77 years was lower than that of Japan, Singapore and South Korea, but higher than in China, Malaysia and Indonesia Taiwan’s average life expectancy last year increased to 80.77 years, but was still not back to its pre-COVID-19 pandemic peak of 81.32 years in 2020, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. The average life expectancy last year increased the 0.54 years from 2023, the ministry said in a statement. For men and women, the average life expectancy last year was 77.42 years and 84.30 years respectively, up 0.48 years and 0.56 years from the previous year. Taiwan’s average life expectancy peaked at 81.32 years in 2020, as the nation was relatively unaffected by the pandemic that year. The metric
TAKING STOCK: The USMC is rebuilding a once-abandoned airfield in Palau to support large-scale ground operations as China’s missile range grows, Naval News reported The US Marine Corps (USMC) is considering new sites for stockpiling equipment in the West Pacific to harden military supply chains and enhance mobility across the Indo-Pacific region, US-based Naval News reported on Saturday. The proposed sites in Palau — one of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies — and Australia would enable a “rapid standup of stored equipment within a year” of the program’s approval, the report said, citing documents published by the USMC last month. In Palau, the service is rebuilding a formerly abandoned World War II-era airfield and establishing ancillary structures to support large-scale ground operations “as China’s missile range and magazine
A 72-year-old man in Kaohsiung was sentenced to 40 days in jail after he was found having sex with a 67-year-old woman under a slide in a public park on Sunday afternoon. At 3pm on Sunday, a mother surnamed Liang (梁) was with her child at a neighborhood park when they found the man, surnamed Tsai (蔡), and woman, surnamed Huang (黃), underneath the slide. Liang took her child away from the scene, took photographs of the two and called the police, who arrived and arrested the couple. During questioning, Tsai told police that he had met Huang that day and offered to
RSS