Action should be taken to reduce health inequality and introduce health considerations into public policymaking, rights groups said yesterday.
Human Rights Conventions and Covenants Watch executive board member Huang Yi-bee (黃怡碧) said that substantial life expectancy gaps have persisted despite nearly universal coverage under the National Health Insurance system, adding that Taipei residents on average live almost three years longer than those from other parts of the nation and more than 13 years longer than Aborigines who remain in their villages.
“This kind of gap cannot be fully explained in terms of access to medical resources — in reality, societal injustice is the greatest ‘killer’ of public health,” she said, adding that academic research had found that only 20 percent to 40 percent of life expectancy differences could be ascribed to healthcare access, with the rest related to factors such as physical environment, status, profession, education and income.
“If someone has to work two jobs to make ends meet, there is no way to tell them to relax, be sure to exercise and pay attention to nutrition — in reality, there is no way they would be able to make that happen,” she said.
She added that for Aborigines, additional factors included the prevalence of relatively dangerous jobs in fields such as construction and trucking, as well as high rates of smoking, alcohol and betel nut consumption.
Remedying the life expectancy gap would require more than constructing additional healthcare facilities, she said, calling for the government to take measures to address social inequality as well as to create health education materials catered specifically to the needs of Aborigines.
National Taiwan University Health Policy professor Cheng Yawen (鄭雅文) said that even with universal healthcare, class differences still affected health through mechanisms such as housing conditions and exposure to pollution.
Mental Health Association Taiwan president Chang Chueh (張玨) said that the government often focuses on treating the health problems which arise as side effects of its policies rather addressing the policies themselves.
She cited government proposals to pay for counseling for workers affected by free-trade agreements, saying that it would be better to provide workers with job guarantees.
Campaigners called for the presidential candidates of major parties to outline their stances on eliminating health inequality, also demanding the integration of health considerations into future policies.
They urged the Executive Yuan to coordinate health-related policies across departments and to draft a report on health inequality.
An alleged US government plan to encourage Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) to form a joint venture with Intel to boost US chipmaking would place the Taiwanese foundry giant in a more disadvantageous position than proposed tariffs on imported chips, a semiconductor expert said yesterday. If TSMC forms a joint venture with its US rival, it faces the risk of technology outflow, said Liu Pei-chen (劉佩真), a researcher at the Taiwan Industry Economics Database of the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research. A report by international financial services firm Baird said that Asia semiconductor supply chain talks suggest that the US government would
Starlux Airlines on Tuesday announced it is to launch new direct flights from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport to Ontario, California, on June 2. The carrier said it plans to deploy the new-generation Airbus A350 on the Taipei-Ontario route. The Airbus A350 features a total of 306 seats, including four in first class, 26 in business class, 36 in premium economy and 240 in economy. According to Starlux’s initial schedule, four flights would run between Taoyuan and Ontario per week: Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Flights are to depart from Taoyuan at 8:05pm and arrive in California at 5:05pm (local time), while return flights
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
Nearly 800 Indian tourists are to arrive this week on an incentive tour organized by Indian company Asian Painted Ltd, making it the largest tour group from the South Asian nation to visit since the COVID-19 pandemic. The travelers are scheduled to arrive in six batches from Sunday to Feb. 25 for five-day tours, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. The tour would take the travelers, most of whom are visiting Taiwan for the first time, to several tourist sites in Taipei and Yilan County, including tea houses in Taipei’s Maokong (貓空), Dadaocheng (大稻埕) and Ximending (西門町) areas. They would also visit