The Control Yuan yesterday censured the Department of Health (DOH) along with the Kaohsiung City and Kaohsiung County governments for their failure to prevent the spread of dengue fever, which has killed 13 people this year in the worst outbreak since the 1980s.
"The ongoing spread of dengue fever cases has seriously threatened the health of Taiwan citizens. The Department of Health, Kaohsiung City Government and Kaohsiung County Government have obviously been in dereliction of duty in their failure to control its spread," said Li You-chi (
The censure comes at the worst possible time for DPP Kaohsiung mayor Frank Hsieh (
According to the Control Yuan report, the DOH discontinued a program to prevent the disease which had been in place for 11 years, although it had been highly effective.
The DOH ended the program in 2000 after concluding that the number of dengue fever cases, which had declined to about 100 per year, could be contained by the nation's conventional medical infrastructure.
The report also said that the Kaohsiung city and county epidemic prevention workers were insufficiently trained and criticized both administrations for not employing their own personnel.
The report noted that between January and May of this year, there were 11 cases of dengue fever in Kaohsiung City, to which the city government paid scant attention. The disease began to spread in mid-June, but a citywide prevention plan was not proposed until August.
LOUD AND PROUD Taiwan might have taken a drubbing against Australia and Japan, but you might not know it from the enthusiasm and numbers of the fans Taiwan might not be expected to win the World Baseball Classic (WBC) but their fans are making their presence felt in Tokyo, with tens of thousands decked out in the team’s blue, blowing horns and singing songs. Taiwanese fans have packed out the Tokyo Dome for all three of their games so far and even threatened to drown out home team supporters when their team played Japan on Friday. They blew trumpets, chanted for their favorite players and had their own cheerleading squad who dance on a stage during the game. The team struggled to match that exuberance on the field, with
UPDATED TEST: The new rules aim to assess drivers’ awareness of risky behaviors and how they respond under certain circumstances, the Highway Bureau said Driver’s license applicants who fail to yield to pedestrians at intersections or to check blind spots, or omit pointing-and-calling procedures would fail the driving test, the Highway Bureau said yesterday. The change is set to be implemented at the end of the month, and is part of the bureau’s reform of the driving portion of the test, which has been criticized for failing to assess whether drivers can operate vehicles safely. Sedan drivers would be tested regarding yielding to pedestrians and turning their heads to check blind spots, while drivers of large vehicles would be tested on their familiarity with pointing-and-calling
Whether Japan would help defend Taiwan in case of a cross-strait conflict would depend on the US and the extent to which Japan would be allowed to act under the US-Japan Security Treaty, former Japanese minister of defense Satoshi Morimoto said. As China has not given up on the idea of invading Taiwan by force, to what extent Japan could support US military action would hinge on Washington’s intention and its negotiation with Tokyo, Morimoto said in an interview with the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) yesterday. There has to be sufficient mutual recognition of how Japan could provide
A Taiwanese man apologized on Friday after saying in a social media post that he worked with Australia to provide scouting reports on Taiwan’s team, enabling Australia’s victory in this year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC), saying it was a joke and that he did not hold any position with foreign teams or Taiwan’s sports training center. Chen Po-hao (陳柏豪) drew the rage of many Taiwan baseball fans when he posted online on Thursday night, claiming credit for Australia’s 3-0 win over Taiwan in the opening game for Pool C, saying he worked as a physical therapist with the national team and
RSS