A number of new regulations are taking effect this month, including milk subsidy programs for children in some administrative regions, as well as changes in drug prices.
The Taipei City Government is launching a milk subsidy program for public elementary schools and kindergartens starting this month to provide students with one bottle of milk per week.
Students can use their ID cards to pick up a bottle of fresh milk or soy milk at convenience stores.
Photo: CNA
The program is to start with a one week trial from Monday next week and officially launch on April 14.
Chunghua County also raised NT$80 million (US$2.41 million) for a similar program to provide junior-high, elementary and kindergarten students with milk once per week starting this month.
New medication pricing is to take effect today, with the prices of 3,150 medications decreasing and 34 increasing, the National Health Insurance Administration said.
That would save an estimated NT$4.85 billion in drug expenditures annually, it added.
The Taiwan branch of Haleon, a British healthcare company, said that starting this month, the suggested retail prices of all its Panadol cold and flu medications would increase by 5 percent to 6.5 percent, raising prices per box by NT$9 to NT$30.
Affected products include Panadol cold and flu extra strength, day and night, cough relief and nasal relief medications, as well as cold and flu hot drink packets.
Other changes include the increase in benefits and allowances for volunteer soldiers in service and combat units, which are to start today.
Taiwan High Speed Rail also said it is canceling the 5 percent discount on meals offered to TGo members, and that the price of boxed meals is to increase by NT$10 starting tomorrow, rising from NT$110 to NT$120, due to the rising cost of ingredients.
Meanwhile, Costco said it would begin requiring people to scan their membership cards at the store’s entrance and limit guests to two.
Taiwanese were praised for their composure after a video filmed by Taiwanese tourists capturing the moment a magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck Japan’s Aomori Prefecture went viral on social media. The video shows a hotel room shaking violently amid Monday’s quake, with objects falling to the ground. Two Taiwanese began filming with their mobile phones, while two others held the sides of a TV to prevent it from falling. When the shaking stopped, the pair calmly took down the TV and laid it flat on a tatami mat, the video shows. The video also captured the group talking about the safety of their companions bathing
US climber Alex Honnold is to attempt to scale Taipei 101 without a rope and harness in a live Netflix special on Jan. 24, the streaming platform announced on Wednesday. Accounting for the time difference, the two-hour broadcast of Honnold’s climb, called Skyscraper Live, is to air on Jan. 23 in the US, Netflix said in a statement. Honnold, 40, was the first person ever to free solo climb the 900m El Capitan rock formation in Yosemite National Park — a feat that was recorded and later made into the 2018 documentary film Free Solo. Netflix previewed Skyscraper Live in October, after videos
Starting on Jan. 1, YouBike riders must have insurance to use the service, and a six-month trial of NT$5 coupons under certain conditions would be implemented to balance bike shortages, a joint statement from transportation departments across Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan announced yesterday. The rental bike system operator said that coupons would be offered to riders to rent bikes from full stations, for riders who take out an electric-assisted bike from a full station, and for riders who return a bike to an empty station. All riders with YouBike accounts are automatically eligible for the program, and each membership account
A classified Pentagon-produced, multiyear assessment — the Overmatch brief — highlighted unreported Chinese capabilities to destroy US military assets and identified US supply chain choke points, painting a disturbing picture of waning US military might, a New York Times editorial published on Monday said. US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s comments in November last year that “we lose every time” in Pentagon-conducted war games pitting the US against China further highlighted the uncertainty about the US’ capability to intervene in the event of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan. “It shows the Pentagon’s overreliance on expensive, vulnerable weapons as adversaries field cheap, technologically
RSS