Medical experts yesterday called on the government to take measures to set up a repository for human skin in Taiwan, a facility which would be vital in times of earthquakes or war, they said.
"A skin bank is meant to save lives," said Lin Tsou-wu (
Lin said most countries have at least one national "skin bank" to centralize skin donations, pointing out that Taiwan is underdeveloped in this regard.
"Since there is no centralized or national skin bank, many large hospitals have established their own skin banks, albeit on a very limited scale. The result is that donated skin cannot reach many burn injury patients in time," he said.
Discussing potential sources of burn injuries in Taiwan, organizers of the Third Asian-Pacific Burns Conference, currently being held in Taipei, invited experts from Israel to share their experiences.
"Israel has been through several wars and terrorist attacks have caused hundreds of burn injuries. Such casualties are the result of various types of disasters -- both natural and man-made," said Arieh Eldad, Surgeon General of the Israel Defense Forces Medical Corps.
He said skin currently available at their bank is enough to cover roughly100 square meters.
"The skin coverage of a whole body is only around two square meters," Lin said, adding that having 20 to 30 square meters on hand would be enough for Taiwan to set up a skin bank.
Lin emphasized that skin grafting is only for emergency treatment, and usually only for massive burns injuries that affect more than 40 percent of the body.
He said, however, that in the case of an attack by China or a major city being hit by an earthquake, demand for skin for grafting would be much higher. "But we don't even have one national skin bank yet," he said.
The donation and collection of graftable skin is another problem Taiwan must deal with. According to the Department of Health, skin has not been listed among the seven existing organs one can list for donation after death.
"Skin is the body's biggest organ. Donations should be just as feasible as with other major organs," Lin said.
Lin also said grafting skin is easier than transplanting other organs, because there are no problems with type-matching, and no risk of rejection.
Other problems, however, such as potentially infectious skin diseases among donors, still need to be taken into account.
Without a repository for skin, the use of artificial skin has become a common way to treat burn injuries in Taiwan. Currently, artificial skin must be imported, and the normally large scale of grafts makes the procedure very expensive.
Lin estimated a complete treatment would cost between NT$100,000 and NT$1 million.
"But national health insurance won't pay for this," Lin added.
Yang Jui-yung (楊瑞永), a doctor at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital (長庚醫院), said more than 15 percent of burn patients are classified as having `serious' burns covering over 20 percent of their body.
The use of artificial skin in Taiwan exceeds that of real skin, but one of the serious disadvantages of the artificial type is that it is more fragile and prone to infection than real skin.
LONG FLIGHT: The jets would be flown by US pilots, with Taiwanese copilots in the two-seat F-16D variant to help familiarize them with the aircraft, the source said The US is expected to fly 10 Lockheed Martin F-16C/D Block 70/72 jets to Taiwan over the coming months to fulfill a long-awaited order of 66 aircraft, a defense official said yesterday. Word that the first batch of the jets would be delivered soon was welcome news to Taiwan, which has become concerned about delays in the delivery of US arms amid rising military tensions with China. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said the initial tranche of the nation’s F-16s are rolling off assembly lines in the US and would be flown under their own power to Taiwan by way
OBJECTS AT SEA: Satellites with synthetic-aperture radar could aid in the detection of small Chinese boats attempting to illegally enter Taiwan, the space agency head said Taiwan aims to send the nation’s first low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite into space in 2027, while the first Formosat-8 and Formosat-9 spacecraft are to be launched in October and 2028 respectively, the National Science and Technology Council said yesterday. The council laid out its space development plan in a report reviewed by members of the legislature’s Education and Culture Committee. Six LEO satellites would be produced in the initial phase, with the first one, the B5G-1A, scheduled to be launched in 2027, the council said in the report. Regarding the second satellite, the B5G-1B, the government plans to work with private contractors
‘NARWHAL’: The indigenous submarine completed its harbor acceptance test recently and is now under heavy guard as it undergoes tests in open waters, a source said The Hai Kun (海鯤), the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, yesterday began sea trials, sailing out of the Port of Kaohsiung, a military source said. Also known as the “Narwhal,” the vessel departed from CSBC Corp, Taiwan’s (台灣國際造船) shipyard at about 8am, where it had been docked. More than 10 technicians and military personnel were on deck, with several others standing atop the sail. After recently completing its harbor acceptance test, the vessel has started a series of sea-based trials, including tests of its propulsion and navigational systems, while partially surfaced, the source said. The Hai Kun underwent tests in the port from
MISSION: The Indo-Pacific region is ‘the priority theater,’ where the task of deterrence extends across the entire region, including Taiwan, the US Pacific Fleet commander said The US Navy’s “mission of deterrence” in the Indo-Pacific theater applies to Taiwan, Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Stephen Koehler told the South China Sea Conference on Tuesday. The conference, organized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), is an international platform for senior officials and experts from countries with security interests in the region. “The Pacific Fleet’s mission is to deter aggression across the Western Pacific, together with our allies and partners, and to prevail in combat if necessary, Koehler said in the event’s keynote speech. “That mission of deterrence applies regionwide — including the South China Sea and Taiwan,” he
RSS