Center for Disease Control (CDC) Director-General Su Ih-jen (
Department of Health (DOH) Director-General Chen Chien-jen (
"It's a very burdensome job," Su said. "With the pressure to push through the amendments to the Center for Disease Control Organic Law (
Su became teary eyed during the press conference to announce his resignation and broke up when saying he was proud to have played a role during a national health crisis.
early departure
Having taken up the position in May with the specific task of controlling the SARS epidemic, Su said he had originally planned to leave after completing one year with the CDC.
"I thought I could at least hold my position until March 20 and leave after the presidential election," Su said.
But Su cited a possible heart condition as his reason for wanting to resign.
He also said that if the Center for Disease Control Organic Law passed in the Legislative Yuan, it would be better for his successor to have a hand in the process of reorganizing the CDC.
"The position of CDC director-general requires professional expertise and is not about politics," Su said.
Su wants Jan. 18 to be his last day at work. He will take a few days off to have his heart condition diagnosed.
Chen said he had not yet considered other candidates for Su's position and wanted to see Su's health reports before making a decision.
`number one choice'
"We are like brothers, so if he really is sick, then I won' t force him to stay on, but at this point he is still the DOH's number one choice for the position," Chen said.
Su stressed the importance of the amendments to the organic law, slated to be voted on in the legislature today.
The CDC's revisions of the law include the establishment of an Infection Prevention Medical Care Network that would designate specific hospitals in each city and county with the task of treating patients with infectious diseases.
Su also said the law would allow more doctors and doctorate-level researchers to work at the CDC, bypassing current regulations requiring that select CDC employees take civil service exams.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
REASONS FOR TRAVEL: An assistant professor said that proposed amendments to penalize drivers if they used drugs overseas would not deter people from traveling People who operate a motor vehicle under the influence of marijuana would have their driver’s license revoked, even if they used the substance while overseas, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday, citing proposed amendments to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例). The amendments would also authorize the government to revoke the licenses of people determined to have used Category 1 or Category 2 narcotics, even if they were not operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs, as well as ban them from taking the license test for three years, the ministry said. People aged 18 or
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
RSS