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.
One of two tropical depressions that formed off Taiwan yesterday morning could turn into a moderate typhoon by the weekend, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Tropical Depression No. 21 formed at 8am about 1,850km off the southeast coast, CWA forecaster Lee Meng-hsuan (李孟軒) said. The weather system is expected to move northwest as it builds momentum, possibly intensifying this weekend into a typhoon, which would be called Mitag, Lee said. The radius of the storm is expected to reach almost 200km, she said. It is forecast to approach the southeast of Taiwan on Monday next week and pass through the Bashi Channel
WARNING: People in coastal areas need to beware of heavy swells and strong winds, and those in mountainous areas should brace for heavy rain, the CWA said The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday issued sea and land warnings for Typhoon Ragasa, forecasting that it would continue to intensify and affect the nation the most today and tomorrow. People in Hualien and Taitung counties, and mountainous areas in Yilan and Pingtung counties, should brace for damage caused by extremely heavy rain brought by the typhoon’s outer rim, as it was upgraded to a super typhoon yesterday morning, the CWA said. As of 5:30pm yesterday, the storm’s center was about 630km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving northwest at 21kph, and its maximum wind speed had reached
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said that it expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Ragasa this morning and a land warning at night as it approached Taiwan. Ragasa intensified from a tropical storm into a typhoon at 8am yesterday, the CWA said, adding that at 2pm, it was about 1,110km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip. The typhoon was moving northwest at 13kph, with sustained winds of up to 119kph and gusts reaching 155kph, the CWA Web site showed. Forecaster Liu Pei-teng (劉沛滕) said that Ragasa was projected to strengthen as it neared the Bashi Channel, with its 200km
PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENTS: Hualien and Taitung counties declared today a typhoon day, while schools and offices in parts of Kaohsiung and Pingtung counties are also to close Typhoon Ragasa was forecast to hit its peak strength and come closest to Taiwan from yesterday afternoon through today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Taiwan proper could be out of the typhoon’s radius by midday and the sea warning might be lifted tonight, it added. CWA senior weather specialist Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said that Ragasa’s radius had reached the Hengchun Peninsula by 11am yesterday and was expected to hit Taitung County and Kaohsiung by yesterday evening. Ragasa was forecast to move to Taiwan’s southern offshore areas last night and to its southwestern offshore areas early today, she added. As of 8pm last night,
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