The parents of two children from Palau yesterday expressed their gratitude to the people of Taiwan for paying for cranio-facial operations to repair their childrens' cleft palates.
A cleft lip and palate occur when a baby is born with an opening in the roof of their mouth (palate) and the upper lip does not fully form.
"We are very grateful that our baby has been able to benefit from the surgery and to do so for free, because we could never have afforded it," said Mrs. Ngedebuu, the mother of 18-month-old Delson Ngedebuu, one of the children.
PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), this was the first time the government has provided free medical treatment to foreign nationals. It did so after receiving a request from the government of Palau, an archipelago nation of some 18,000 people and over 200 islands in the the western central Pacific Ocean.
"Though Taiwan was excluded from this year's World Health Assembly (WHA), we [Taiwan] are willing to give medical assistance when we can to foreign friends in need," Shia Ji-chang (夏季昌), section chief of MOFA's Department of Information and Cultural Affairs, told the Taipei Times.
Taiwan's bid for observer status in the WHA, the highest decision-making body of the WHO, suffered a setback early this week in Geneva, as Taiwan's plea was not put on the meeting's agenda.
Ngedebuu gave her thanks while speaking to reporters as her family and that of the other child, two-year-old Reign Kazuyuki, attended an appointment with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Eugene Chien (
The minister personally congratulated the families and thanked the Chang Kung Memorial Hospital for successfully carrying out the operations.
"By providing such help to other nations, we are reaching out to the international community and showing the world that the people of Taiwan are mature and responsible citizens of the global community," Chien said.
According to the MOFA, upon receiving the letter from the Palau government in January requesting Taiwan's help in treating the children, the ministry contacted major hospitals seeking volunteer assistance from medical institutions to conduct the operation.
The Palauan government told the ministry that the two children were from poor families and "in serious need of treatment."
Taiwan was approached not only because it has sent doctors to help in Palau's hospitals before, but also because no hospitals in Palau have expertise in cranio-facial surgery.
The Chang Kung Memorial Hospital was the first to respond and conducted the two operations on May 8.
Cleft lip and palate occurs in one of every 500 to 1,000 babies. It is one of the most common birth defects.
Doctors and scientists know how cleft palates form, but they do not have a complete explanation for why clefts occur, or what causes them.
A combination of the child's inherited traits and the environment within the mother's womb during pregnancy is thought to be the most likely cause of clefting in infants. In some way, the growth and development of the face are disrupted, resulting in a cleft.
Asked whether the operations signaled that Taiwan would provide free medical treatment to all foreign nationals who came begging, Shia told the Taipei Times that requests would be dealt with on a case-by-case basis, taking into account the patient's financial circumstances and whether his or her country could provide the treatment.
He said that if Taiwan had the necessary degree of medical expertise in the relevant field, the government would be pleased to assist in cases of genuine need.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS