Amendments to 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) that allow organ transplants between HIV-positive people cleared the legislative floor yesterday.
The amendments would allow HIV-positive people to donate organs, bodily fluids, tissue or cells to other HIV carriers as long as the recipients sign an agreement to undergo the transplant.
The organs, bodily fluids, tissue and cells of people with HIV are otherwise unusable, and those who offer to donate such body parts to HIV-negative people would risk a fine of between NT$30,000 and NT$150,000, one amendment says.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
The amendments were proposed while taking into consideration the need for organ transplants by HIV-positive people and after referencing the US’ HIV Organ Policy Equity Act and successful organ transplants in the UK between HIV-positive people, the Executive Yuan said, explaining its version of the legislation.
As of Sept. 30 last year, there were 33,850 HIV-positive people in Taiwan, all of whom could be potential donors or recipients for organ transplants, said Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Arthur Chen (陳宜民), who helped push for the legislation.
Apart from the US and the UK, Spain has also allowed organ transplants between HIV-positive people, he said.
Japan, despite not having legalized organ transplants between HIV carriers, has had six successful such operations, which had no discernible difference in the survival rate of recipients compared with HIV-negative people, he added.
One of the amendments, initiated by Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Lin Ching-yi (林靜儀), says that although people with HIV are legally required to inform paramedics when seeking medical help that they are HIV-positive or risk a penalty, those who are unconscious, in a state of decreased consciousness or whose privacy would be infringed upon as a result of disclosing such information would be exempted from the regulation.
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
STATE OF THE NATION: The legislature should invite the president to deliver an address every year, the TPP said, adding that Lai should also have to answer legislators’ questions The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday proposed inviting president-elect William Lai (賴清德) to make a historic first state of the nation address at the legislature following his inauguration on May 20. Lai is expected to face many domestic and international challenges, and should clarify his intended policies with the public’s representatives, KMT caucus secretary-general Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said when making the proposal at a meeting of the legislature’s Procedure Committee. The committee voted to add the item to the agenda for Friday, along with another similar proposal put forward by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). The invitation is in line with Article 15-2