The Center for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday said that next year soldiers would be given HIV tests after finishing their service, and fifth-graders would receive AIDS education.
"In the past, our prevention policies were very general. However, next year, we've identified seven hot spots that we intend to target," said Department of Health (DOH) Director General Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁), reporting on policies finalized by the Executive Yuan AIDS prevention committee yesterday afternoon.
According to Chen, the seven issues the DOH will target are male homosexuality; the online sex industry; the sharing of needles in drug use; foreign brides and abortion; students from the fifth grade through middle school; conscripted servicemen; and people with HIV.
"Because records show that younger individuals have been contracting HIV in recent years, we plan to start AIDS education earlier," said Lin Hsin-yi (
Lin said that for the past two years, the HIV rate among people between the ages of 15 and 24 was higher than Taiwan's overall HIV incidence rate.
"The educational material to be given to the fifth graders will focus on educating students on AIDS and sex," Chen said.
"At the same time, it will also promote an appropriate understanding of love and encourage a limited number of sexual partners," he said.
The DOH also reported that in response to the increase in HIV cases among the 20 to 29 age group, soldiers would be required to undergo HIV tests before leaving the army.
Chen said that while the increase in the rate of HIV infection in Taiwan was 3 percent, the corresponding figure in China was 50 percent.
According to Lin, Southeast Asia also faces a severe AIDS problem. As a result, the DOH plans to increase the number of HIV tests on foreign brides as well as women seeking abortions, who, the DOH says, run a higher risk of infection.
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Monday called for greater cooperation between Taiwan, Lithuania and the EU to counter threats to information security, including attacks on undersea cables and other critical infrastructure. In a speech at Vilnius University in the Lithuanian capital, Tsai highlighted recent incidents in which vital undersea cables — essential for cross-border data transmission — were severed in the Taiwan Strait and the Baltic Sea over the past year. Taiwanese authorities suspect Chinese sabotage in the incidents near Taiwan’s waters, while EU leaders have said Russia is the likely culprit behind similar breaches in the Baltic. “Taiwan and our European
The Taipei District Court sentenced babysitters Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱) and Liu Jou-lin (劉若琳) to life and 18 years in prison respectively today for causing the death of a one-year-old boy in December 2023. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said that Liu Tsai-hsuan was entrusted with the care of a one-year-old boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), in August 2023 by the Child Welfare League Foundation. From Sept. 1 to Dec. 23 that year, she and her sister Liu Jou-lin allegedly committed acts of abuse against the boy, who was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries on Dec. 24, 2023, but did not
LIKE-MINDED COUNTRIES: Despite the threats from outside, Taiwan and Lithuania thrived and developed their economies, former president Tsai Ing-wen said Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Saturday thanked Lithuania for its support of Taiwan, saying that both countries are united as partners in defending democracy. Speaking at a reception organized by the Lithuania-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Group welcoming her on her first visit to the Baltic state, Tsai said that while she was president from 2016 to last year, many Lithuanian “friends” visited Taiwan. “And I told myself I have to be here. I am very happy that I am here, a wonderful country and wonderful people,” Tsai said. Taiwan and Lithuania are in similar situations as both are neighbors to authoritarian countries, she
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) is to visit the UK during her ongoing European trip, which originally included only Lithuania and Denmark, her office said today. Tsai departed Taiwan for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark, marking her second visit to the continent since her two-term presidency ended in May last year. Her office issued a statement today saying that Tsai would also visit the UK "for a few days," during which she is to meet with UK politicians and Taiwanese professionals, and visit academic and research institutions. Following Tsai's stop in Denmark, she is to visit the
RSS