The government should step up alcohol education and prevention efforts, and allocate more of the budget to it, doctors said on Friday, citing the high consumption of alcohol among Taiwanese adolescents.
One out of four 12-to-17-year-olds has consumed alcohol, said Yen Tsung-hai (顏宗海), director of Linkou Chang Gung Memorial Hospital’s Department of Clinical Toxicology.
The Health Promotion Administration (HPA) budgets NT$1.3 billion (US$43.9 million) annually to prevent the health hazards of tobacco, but it has not allocated a separate budget for preventing teenage drinking or excessive alcohol use, Yen said.
Photo: Tsai Tsung-hsien, Taipei Times
“There is no so-called ‘safe drinking level’ for minors,” because any amount consumed hinders their brain development, he said, citing the sensitivity of the hippocampus and the prefrontal lobe to ethanol.
“Ethanol is neurotoxic, and long-term drinkers are prone to liver disease and cirrhosis of the liver, as well as a higher risk of cardiovascular disease,” he added.
Teenagers who have a drinking habit can develop antisocial traits and experience low mood more easily, he said, adding that they also have a higher likelihood of being addicted to alcohol as adults.
Similar to how tobacco products were advertised in the past, commercials present alcoholic beverages as boosting the fun of social gatherings, and this perception of alcohol has contributed to a spike in underage drinking, said Guo Fei-ran (郭斐然), an attending physician in National Taiwan University Hospital’s Department of Family Medicine.
Convenience stores offer alcoholic drinks, including beer, cocktails and flavored alcoholic beverages, in the non-alcoholic drinks section, so young people who might have only wanted a soft drink could be easily tempted, Guo added.
The National Communications Commission from March last year required broadcast media not to show advertisements for alcohol before 9pm, but most teenagers go to bed later than that, he said.
No regulations have been introduced for advertising online when teenagers use the Internet the most, he said, adding that images and information related to alcoholic beverages are everywhere online.
“The loose regulations regarding alcohol are why underage people live in an environment full of alcohol,” he said, urging the government to implement new guidelines for online content showing alcoholic beverages.
Government agencies focus less on alcohol education and prevention for young people than on tobacco and drug prevention, but alcohol consumption is the cause of multiple health and social issues, Yen said.
“Hopefully, the government will add alcohol prevention as an item in its budget next year,” he added.
HPA Tobacco Control Division official Lu Meng-ying (呂孟穎) said that alcohol prevention is promoted through interministerial channels.
For example, police agencies are responsible for drunk driving prevention, while the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s Department of Mental and Oral Health is responsible for treating alcoholism, Lu said.
The HPA bundles alcohol prevention with its tobacco prevention, so the tobacco prevention funding is available to alcohol prevention efforts, typically in the form of special projects, he added.
POLAM KOPITIAM CASE: Of the two people still in hospital, one has undergone a liver transplant and is improving, while the other is being evaluated for a liver transplant A fourth person has died from bongkrek acid poisoning linked to the Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said yesterday, as two other people remain seriously ill in hospital. The first death was reported on March 24. The man had been 39 years old and had eaten at the restaurant on March 22. As more cases of suspected food poisoning involving people who had eaten at the restaurant were reported by hospitals on March 26, the ministry and the Taipei Department of Health launched an investigation. The Food and
A fourth person has died in a food poisoning outbreak linked to the Xinyi (信義) branch of Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in Taipei, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said on Monday. It was the second fatality in three days, after another was announced on Saturday. The 40-year-old woman experienced multiple organ failure in the early hours on Monday, and the family decided not to undergo emergency resuscitation, Wang said. She initially showed signs of improvement after seeking medical treatment for nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, but her condition worsened due to an infection, he said. Two others who
MEDICAL: The bills would also upgrade the status of the Ethical Guidelines Governing the Research of Human Embryos and Embryonic Stem Cell Research to law The Executive Yuan yesterday approved two bills to govern regenerative medicine that aim to boost development of the field. Taiwan would reach an important milestone in regenerative medicine development with passage of the regenerative medicine act and the regenerative medicine preparations ordinance, which would allow studies to proceed and treatments to be developed, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) told reporters at a news conference after a Cabinet meeting. Regenerative treatments have been used for several conditions, including cancer — by regenerating blood cells — and restoring joint function in soft tissue, Wang said. The draft legislation requires regenerative treatments
Taiwanese should be mindful when visiting China, as Beijing in July is likely to tighten the implementation of policies on national security following the introduction of two regulations, a researcher said on Saturday. China on Friday unveiled the regulations governing the law enforcement and judicial activities of national security agencies. They would help crack down on “illegal” and “criminal” activities that Beijing considers to be endangering national security, according to reports by China’s state media. The definition of what constitutes a national security threat in China is vague, Taiwan Thinktank researcher Wu Se-chih (吳瑟致) said. The two procedural regulations are to provide Chinese