Do not abuse test kits
With many Taiwanese desperate to obtain COVID-19 rapid antigen test kits through the name-based rationing scheme, pharmacists throughout the nation are working hard to make sure they can get the kits into people’s hands.
However, pharmacists are being confronted by irritable customers and subjected to verbal abuse. They are being criticized simply for trying to do their job.
In the face this hostility, the vast majority of pharmacists are carrying out their duties and trying to deal with difficult situations as best they can.
In the short amount of time that the name-based rationing system has been in place, there have been endless lines of people waiting to receive their kits.
Many of them travel from pharmacy to pharmacy, beseeching the pharmacist to sell them any spares or samples that they might have in stock.
The entire process is exhausting for all concerned, and the pharmacists working in the stores that have run out of the kits are feeling extremely stressed.
I cannot help but wonder: As millions of people are desperately searching for these kits, they have descended into a form of mass hysteria, but how many of them actually need these kits, and how many of them know how to use them correctly?
These kits will not help their symptoms; they are not a treatment for the disease. Using the kits is not going to reduce the severity of anyone’s symptoms once they have been infected, or make the symptoms go away. Nor can they protect anyone from being infected in the first place.
How do people think they would use the tests once they have them? Will they test themselves on a daily basis? Once every second day? Every week? Will people use a test when symptoms are present, or at any time, even if they have no symptoms at all? What symptoms would prompt people to use a test? A sore throat, or only if they have a combination of symptoms? Will they use a test if they start sneezing? And will they test the entire family, or just themselves?
Finally, would a negative test result bring any reassurance? After all, false results are possible. What if the test is negative, but a person continues to feel ill? Should that person take another test as a safeguard? Should a doctor be seen?
How about if a test result is positive? Should a person hide at home or go see a doctor?
If you have not thought all these problems through, please do not line up outside a pharmacy for a test they might not have. Think before you act.
Liu Yu-chi
Taipei
Taiwan’s victory in the World Baseball Softball Confederation Premier12 championship is an historic achievement. Yet once again this achievement is marred by the indignity of the imposed moniker “Chinese Taipei.” The absurdity is compounded by the fact that none of the players are even from Taipei, and some, such as Paiwan catcher Giljegiljaw Kungkuan, are not even ethnically Chinese. The issue garnered attention around the Paris Olympics, yet fell off the agenda as Olympic memories retreated. “Chinese Taipei” persists, and the baseball championship serves as a reminder that fighting “Chinese Taipei” must be a continuous campaign, not merely resurfacing around international
This month, the National Health Insurance (NHI) is to implement a major policy change by eliminating the suspension-and-resumption mechanism for Taiwanese residing abroad. With more than 210,000 Taiwanese living overseas — many with greater financial means than those in Taiwan — this reform, catalyzed by a 2022 Constitutional Court ruling, underscores the importance of fairness, sustainability and shared responsibility in one of the world’s most admired public healthcare systems. Beyond legal obligations, expatriates have a compelling moral duty to contribute, recognizing their stake in a system that embodies the principle of health as a human right. The ruling declared the prior
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) appears to be encountering some culture shock and safety issues at its new fab in Arizona. On Nov. 7, Arizona state authorities cited TSMC for worker safety violations, fining the company US$16,131, after a man died in May. The Arizona Division of Occupational Safety and Health released its six-month investigation into the fatality and cited TSMC for failing to keep the workplace free from hazards likely to cause death or serious harm. At about the same time, the chip giant was also sued for alleged discriminatory hiring practices favoring Asians, prompting a flurry of debate on whether TSMC’s
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Weng Hsiao-ling (翁曉玲) has motioned to abolish the “Wu Sz-huai” (吳斯懷) clauses of the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) — which forbid all Taiwanese who enter China from engaging in any activities detrimental to national security or interests. This motion led the Taiwan Statebuilding Party (TSP) to report her for infringing upon the National Security Act (國家安全法), which Weng called a lawless and undisciplined attempt to threaten a legislator. However, the true lawless and undisciplined person is Weng — the one standing in the enemy
RSS