Abuse of sleeping pills and sedatives has increased over the past few years, as about 10 percent of Taiwanese suffer from chronic insomnia, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday.
Abuse of the sedatives Zolpidem and Zopiclone, as well as benzodiazepines — all of which are controlled drugs that require a doctor’s prescription — increased substantially last year, with Zolpidem abuse rising from seven cases in 2015 to 71 last year, FDA statistics showed.
The majority of people abusing sleeping pills or sedatives are older than 70, accounting for 42.3 percent of all cases last year, followed by people in their 60s at about 15.7 percent, the data showed.
FDA Director-General Wu Shou-mei (吳秀梅) said that as many sedatives depress the central nervous system and can cause harm to the body when an excessive amount is taken at one time, they are listed as controlled drugs that require a prescription from a specialist.
People suffering from chronic sleep disorders should first try to review and improve their sleeping habits or lifestyle and consult a doctor or psychiatrist instead of trying to purchase sleeping pills on their own or exceeding the doses of medication prescribed by doctors, she said.
In a bid to raise public awareness of drug abuse, eight drug education resource centers were established nationwide last year, which have provided more than 20,000 consultations and are to hold lectures, the administration said.
The age group with the most drug abuse cases was people aged between 30 and 39, the administration’s statistics on drug abuse, including illegal drugs, showed.
As people in their 30s are the main economically productive segment of the workforce, the drug education campaign has been promoted in workplaces, as well as in communities, with 130 companies having cooperated in promoting drug abuse prevention measures, the administration said.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Many Japanese couples are coming to Taiwan to obtain donated sperm or eggs for fertility treatment due to conservatism in their home country, Taiwan’s high standards and low costs, doctors said. One in every six couples in Japan is receiving infertility treatment, Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare data show. About 70,000 children are born in Japan every year through in vitro fertilization (IVF), or about one in every 11 children born. Few people accept donated reproductive cells in Japan due to a lack of clear regulations, leaving treatment in a “gray zone,” Taichung Nuwa Fertility Center medical director Wang Huai-ling (王懷麟)
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
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