Health-adjusted life expectancy (HALE) in Taiwan fell to 71.4 years in 2021, down 10.4 months from the previous year, marking the largest decline in 21 years, the latest Ministry of Health and Welfare data showed.
The COVID-19 pandemic is likely to blame for the drop, Linkou Chang Gung Memorial Hospital deputy superintendent Chiu Cheng-hsun (邱政洵), who also is a member of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, said yesterday.
HALE, defined as the average length of time a person can live in full health, globally plummeted by 1.5 years to 61.9 years from 2019 to 2021, the WHO said in a news release on Friday.
Photo: Lin Hui-chin, Taipei Times
This means that HALE in Taiwan began showing signs of significant decline a year later than the world, Chiu said, adding that the Omicron variant of SARS-COV-2 can cause long-lasting damage to health, including an increased risk of stroke.
The lesson of the government’s response to COVID-19 is the importance of strengthening preventive medicine and medical infrastructure before another pathogen capable of causing serious harm to public health strikes again, he said.
Influenza is one of the infectious diseases that pose a similar risk to health, Chiu said.
Improved preventive medicine, faster introduction of new drugs and technology, better access to health checkups are crucial for public health, Shin Kong Hospital vice superintendent Hung Tzu-jen (洪子仁) said.
Improving case management in healthcare, subsidized cancer screening for younger Taiwanese and post-operative patient care are some of the WHO recommendations that Taiwan can adopt, Hung said.
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, would pose a steep challenge to Taiwan’s ability to defend itself against a full-scale invasion, a defense expert said yesterday. Institute of National Defense and Security Research analyst Chieh Chung (揭仲) made the comment hours after the PLAN confirmed the carrier recently passed through the Taiwan Strait to conduct “scientific research tests and training missions” in the South China Sea. China has two carriers in operation — the Liaoning and the Shandong — with the Fujian undergoing sea trials. Although the PLAN needs time to train the Fujian’s air wing and
The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) put Taiwan in danger, Ma Ying-jeou Foundation director Hsiao Hsu-tsen (蕭旭岑) said yesterday, hours after the de facto US embassy said that Beijing had misinterpreted World War II-era documents to isolate Taiwan. The AIT’s comments harmed the Republic of China’s (ROC) national interests and contradicted a part of the “six assurances” stipulating that the US would not change its official position on Taiwan’s sovereignty, Hsiao said. The “six assurances,” which were given by then-US president Ronald Reagan to Taiwan in 1982, say that Washington would not set a date for ending arm sales to Taiwan, consult
A Taiwanese academic yesterday said that Chinese Ambassador to Denmark Wang Xuefeng (王雪峰) disrespected Denmark and Japan when he earlier this year allegedly asked Japan’s embassy to make Taiwan’s representatives leave an event in Copenhagen. The Danish-language Berlingske on Sunday reported the incident in an article with the headline “The emperor’s birthday ended in drama in Copenhagen: More conflict may be on the way between Denmark and China.” It said that on Feb. 26, the Japanese embassy in Denmark held an event for Japanese Emperor Naruhito’s birthday, with about 200 guests in attendance, including representatives from Taiwan. After addressing the Japanese hosts, Wang
RSS