The nation’s maternal mortality rate is much higher than the official estimate, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital director of obstetrics Cheng Po-jen (鄭博仁) said yesterday at a celebration for the establishment of the Taiwan Maternal Fetal Medicine Society.
One of the UN’s 8 Millennium Development Goals set in 2000 was to reduce the maternal morality ratio (MMR) by 75 percent by 2015, Cheng said, adding that as the deadline approaches the world is nowhere near achieving that goal.
Despite announcing its MMR to be at five to six per 100,000 live births, Taiwan actually has an MMR that is likely to be seven to eight times higher than the official number, Cheng said.
“Taiwan has an unclear definition for maternal death, and the statistics are hazy. In Taiwan, the cause of maternal death is limited to two conditions, amniotic fluid embolism and postpartum hemorrhage [PPH],” without counting in the deaths caused by complications in high-risk pregnancies, Cheng said.
Cheng added that other reasons for to the underestimation include a lack of an effective informing system and a maternal mortality review system, which together would allow “each case of maternal death to be identified, reviewed and reported.”
Speaking on his presentation topic, “Toward Reducing Maternal Mortality and Morbidity: the Role of Maternal Fetal Medicine Sub-specialists,” Cheng said that maternal fetal medicine needs to carry out three steps to achieve a reduction in MMR, namely: establishing a training system for maternal fetal specialists; improving existing maternal care and management; and building a credible analytical statistics system for the reporting of maternal deaths.
Cheng suggested standardizing reporting criterion for maternal death, to clearly define maternal morbidity and “near misses;” to have a stratified maternal and neonatal care system and a clear classification standard for the necessary referral of patients, and to conduct research on how suboptimal pregnancy outcomes affect women’s health.
Trips for more than 100,000 international and domestic air travelers could be disrupted as China launches a military exercise around Taiwan today, Taiwan’s Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said yesterday. The exercise could affect nearly 900 flights scheduled to enter the Taipei Flight Information Region (FIR) during the exercise window, it added. A notice issued by the Chinese Civil Aviation Administration showed there would be seven temporary zones around the Taiwan Strait which would be used for live-fire exercises, lasting from 8am to 6pm today. All aircraft are prohibited from entering during exercise, it says. Taipei FIR has 14 international air routes and
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
The Ministry of National Defense (MND) today released images of the military tracking China’s People's Liberation Army (PLA) movements during the latest round of Chinese drills around Taiwan. The PLA began "Justice Mission 2025" drills today, carrying out live-fire drills, simulated strikes on land and maritime targets, and exercises to blockade the nation's main ports. The exercises are to continue tomorrow, with the PLA announcing sea and air space restrictions for five zones around Taiwan for 10 hours starting from 8:30am. The ministry today released images showing a Chinese J-16 fighter jet tracked by a F-16V Block 20 jet and the
City buses in Taipei and New Taipei City, as well as the Taipei MRT, would on Saturday begin accepting QR code payments from five electronic payment providers, the Taipei Department of Transportation said yesterday. The new option would allow passengers to use the “transportation QR code” feature from EasyWallet, iPass Money, iCash Pay, Jkopay or PXPay Plus. Passengers should open their preferred electronic payment app, select the “transportation code” — not the regular payment code — unlock it, and scan the code at ticket readers or gates, General Planning Division Director-General Liu Kuo-chu (劉國著) said. People should move through the
RSS