The Ministry of Health and Welfare has drafted a bill to address the health dangers of betel nuts.
The draft betel nut hazard prevention act primarily focuses on protecting minors and pregnant women, creating zones where betel nuts are not sold and establishing inspection standards, Department of Oral Health Deputy Director-General Yen Chung-han (顏忠漢) said.
The ministry’s most recent report on cancer said that the third-most frequently diagnosed cancers among men in 2021 were those affecting the oral cavity, the oropharynx or the hypopharynx.
Photo: Taipei Times
The report said 7,387 people were newly diagnosed with such cancers in 2021, a rate of 40.4 people per 100,000.
The median age of the cancer patients was 58, while the standardized mortality rate was 16.5 people per 100,000, it said.
Smoking and betel nut chewing are officially recognized as factors that increase the risk of oral cancer, Yen said.
The government has the Tobacco Hazards Prevention Act (菸害防制法) in place to regulate smoking, and the department has begun the process of drafting a similar act to regulate betel nut usage, Yen said.
The draft act would restrict betel nut vendors from providing minors and pregnant women with betel nuts. It would also take a page from the Tobacco Hazards Prevention Act by banning betel nuts in locations used or frequented by children or young people, Yen said.
Such restrictions should limit minors’ exposure to the use of betel nuts and minimize the chances of them trying to chew betel nuts out of curiosity, he said.
While the Ministry of Agriculture regularly inspects betel nuts to ensure the products observe the nation’s standards on residual pesticides, he said there are no health regulations about the consumption of betel nuts.
The draft act intends to remedy this and set standards regarding how much residual pesticide, heavy metals and other chemicals might be hazardous to health, Yen said.
The department would work closely with experts on how to establish such regulations, which might come in the form of an ancillary law or an executive order, he said.
The German city of Hamburg on Oct. 14 named a bridge “Kaohsiung-Brucke” after the Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung. The footbridge, formerly known as F566, is to the east of the Speicherstadt, the world’s largest warehouse district, and connects the Dar-es-Salaam-Platz to the Brooktorpromenade near the Port of Hamburg on the Elbe River. Timo Fischer, a Free Democratic Party member of the Hamburg-Mitte District Assembly, in May last year proposed the name change with support from members of the Social Democratic Party and the Christian Democratic Union. Kaohsiung and Hamburg in 1999 inked a sister city agreement, but despite more than a quarter-century of
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday expressed “grave concerns” after Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) reiterated the city-state’s opposition to “Taiwanese independence” during a meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang (李強). In Singapore on Saturday, Wong and Li discussed cross-strait developments, the Singaporean Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. “Prime Minister Wong reiterated that Singapore has a clear and consistent ‘one China’ policy and is opposed to Taiwan independence,” it said. MOFA responded that it is an objective fact and a common understanding shared by many that the Republic of China (ROC) is an independent, sovereign nation, with world-leading
The Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau (MJIB) has been investigating nine shell companies working with Prince Holding Group, and the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office is seeking further prosecution of alleged criminals, a source said yesterday. The nine companies and three Taiwanese nationals were named by the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on Oct. 14 as Specially Designated Nationals as a result of a US federal court indictment. Prince Holding founder Chen Zhi (陳志) has been charged with fraud, conspiracy, money laundering and overseeing Prince Holding’s suspected forced-labor camps in Cambodia, the indictment says. Intelligence shared between Taiwan,
COOLING OFF: Temperatures are expected to fall to lows of about 20°C on Sunday and possibly 18°C to 19°C next week, following a wave of northeasterly winds on Friday The Central Weather Administration (CWA) on Sunday forecast more rain and cooler temperatures for northern Taiwan this week, with the mercury dropping to lows of 18°C, as another wave of northeasterly winds sweeps across the country. The current northeasterly winds would continue to affect Taiwan through today, with precipitation peaking today, bringing increased rainfall to windward areas, CWA forecaster Liu Pei-teng (劉沛滕) said. The weather system would weaken slightly tomorrow before another, stronger wave arrives on Friday, lasting into next week, Liu said. From yesterday to today, northern Taiwan can expect cool, wet weather, with lows of 22°C to 23°C in most areas,
RSS