A women’s rights group and a legislator urged the government to establish an official reporting mechanism for suspected adverse reactions to the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination, as government-funded vaccinations are to begin soon.
The Health Promotion Administration in February announced that government-funded HPV vaccinations would be given to seventh-grade girls from November, and that an estimated 100,000 students would be vaccinated each year.
HPV is mainly transmitted through sexual contact and the vaccine protects against several types of HPV, including two high-risk strains that cause nearly 70 percent of cervical cancers and precancerous cervical lesions, the administration said.
In June, two Control Yuan members launched an investigation into the policy, saying that it seemed to lack enough risk evaluations and supporting measures and that a verification mechanism was needed to test the vaccine’s effectiveness.
Taiwan Women’s Link chairwoman Huang Sue-ying (黃淑英) and Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Lin Shu-fen (林淑芬) on Friday said the government should establish a reporting mechanism to handle cases of suspected adverse reactions to the vaccine.
They presented the case of a woman in her late 30s surnamed Chen who said that she suffered serious adverse reactions when she was vaccinated at the recommendation of her doctor after giving birth to her second child in February.
Chen said she experienced numbness, chest pain, weakness on one side of her body and visual impairment, adding that she was diagnosed with a central nervous system disorder called neuromyelitis optica, which needs long-term therapy.
About 800,000 doses of the HPV vaccine were administered in Taiwan over the past decade, and 167 suspected adverse reactions were reported, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) official Chen Ko-hsin (陳可欣) said, but added that this was the first reported case of neuromyelitis optica.
“Pharmaceutical companies are required to report to the FDA all suspected adverse reactions in the first five years after a new drug is launched on the market,” she said.
Although most vaccines are considered safe, the government must still establish a reporting mechanism to handle cases of adverse reactions, Lin said.
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
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
A British man was arrested for attempting to smuggle 14.37kg of marijuana into Taiwan through Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Taipei Customs said late yesterday. The man, who arrived from Bangkok at 9pm on Friday, was asked by customs officers to open his luggage during a random inspection, Taipei Customs said in a news release. The passenger, whose identity was not disclosed, refused to open his suitcase and tried to flee the restricted area. He was eventually subdued by three customs officials and an Aviation Police Bureau officer. A later search of his checked luggage uncovered 14.37kg of marijuana buds. The case was handed over