Taiwanese people have a poor understanding of how to maintain good health, according to the results released yesterday of two recent surveys conducted by the Department of Health.
"The surveys show that public-health education among Taiwanese people needs to be improved," said David Weng (翁瑞亨), director-general of the department's Health Promotion Bureau. "Taiwanese people often care about nothing except competing to enter a good university through formal exams, so health education has never been seen as a priority."
"Taiwan needs to go all out to promote health education in medical institutes, schools and communities," Weng said. "One can still find a job and survive if one fails in an academic subject, but not when one lacks an understanding of health that is crucial to one's survival."
The health department's analysis was based on two surveys conducted in April and May, targeting a total of more than 2,000 Taiwanese adults.
The questionnaires probed understanding of issues such as diet, disease control, healthcare and medication. Analysis of the results showed that the average scores for males for the two surveys were 50.86 and 49.8 percent, while those for females were 54.21 and 52.2.
"We will strengthen health education to correct the misunderstanding of health reflected in the surveys," said Chou Kuo-tang (
The surveys showed that only about 51 percent of Taiwanese people realize that a cold cannot be cured by medicine.
Taiwanese people are known for abusing antibiotics and many patients demand antibiotics when seeing a doctor for a cold.
Taiwanese people in total spend NT$10 billion a year on antibiotics and a lot of them are unnecessary, according to the Bureau of National Health Insurance.
About 30 percent of Taiwanese do not fully understand safe sex. Just 25 percent believe that HIV/AIDS cannot be transmitted by oral sex or French kissing. Another 4 percent do not realize that condoms should be worn throughout sexual intercourse or that having only one sexual partner helps to avoid sexually transmitted diseases.
Weng said Taiwan should improve sex education provided in schools. "Chinese culture tells people, including teachers, to be shy when talking about sex. But students often turn to inadequate information from other sources."
Statistics at the end of August showed that 3,369 Taiwan nationals were infected with HIV throughout the country.
Thirty-six percent of Taiwanese believe that hepatitis B is transmitted through food rather than blood.
According to the Center for Disease Control, hepatitis B, which can lead to liver cirrhosis and cancer, has the highest infection and death rate of all the strains of hepatitis in Taiwan. About 5,000 Taiwanese die from liver cancer every year. Chronic hepatitis and liver cirrhosis also kill about 5,000 people annually. Liver disease has been dubbed the "national disease."
About 66 percent of Taiwanese regard nicotine as responsible for causing cancer. Only 8 percent know that it is tar and other components in cigarettes that do so.
"These surveys show that Taiwanese people lack sufficient understanding of the dangers of tobacco," Weng said.
He hoped that after Taiwan's entry into the WTO, the country's education programs against the dangers of tobacco will benefit from a share of the government's income from new tobacco and alcohol taxes. The tax rates for alcoholic drinks will depend on the alcohol content, while the retail price of locally produced cigarettes will rise by about NT$5 per 20-cigarette pack.
According to the health department, 26.47 percent of Taiwanese adults were smokers in 1999.
The analysis showed that overall, younger Taiwanese have a better understanding of health issues than their parents. The average mark attained by senior citizens in the survey was 28.9.
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