Taiwan saw declines in HIV and gonorrhea cases this year, but syphilis infections rose, with the sharpest increase among people aged 15 to 24, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) told a news conference yesterday.
From January to last month, syphilis cases among those aged 15 to 24 increased 9 percent year-on-year, prompting the CDC to expand free screening services for young people starting next year.
CDC spokesperson Lin Ming-cheng (林明誠) said at that the number of medical institutions offering free rapid syphilis testing to people aged 24 and under would be increased from 18 to 79 next year, with capacity for about 10,000 screenings.
Photo: CNA
To strengthen prevention of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), the CDC launched an anonymous STI consultation service on July 1, providing one-on-one confidential counseling at 14 hospitals nationwide.
Eligible people aged 24 and under, including students, can also receive free rapid syphilis testing.
Between July and last month, the anonymous consultation service recorded 1,455 visits, mostly involving questions about STI knowledge, testing, symptoms and treatment, CDC data showed.
As of Nov. 30, Taiwan recorded 810 new HIV cases and 5,873 gonorrhea cases this year, down 12 percent and 17 percent respectively from the same period last year.
In contrast, syphilis cases rose 2 percent to 9,072 nationwide. Among those aged 15 to 24, new cases increased from 1,587 to 1,722 over the same period, marking a 9 percent rise, the CDC said.
Taiwanese can file complaints with the Tourism Administration to report travel agencies if their activities caused termination of a person’s citizenship, Mainland Affairs Council Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday, after a podcaster highlighted a case in which a person’s citizenship was canceled for receiving a single-use Chinese passport to enter Russia. The council is aware of incidents in which people who signed up through Chinese travel agencies for tours of Russia were told they could obtain Russian visas and fast-track border clearance, Chiu told reporters on the sidelines of an event in Taipei. However, the travel agencies actually applied
New measures aimed at making Taiwan more attractive to foreign professionals came into effect this month, the National Development Council said yesterday. Among the changes, international students at Taiwanese universities would be able to work in Taiwan without a work permit in the two years after they graduate, explainer materials provided by the council said. In addition, foreign nationals who graduated from one of the world’s top 200 universities within the past five years can also apply for a two-year open work permit. Previously, those graduates would have needed to apply for a work permit using point-based criteria or have a Taiwanese company
The Shilin District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday indicted two Taiwanese and issued a wanted notice for Pete Liu (劉作虎), founder of Shenzhen-based smartphone manufacturer OnePlus Technology Co (萬普拉斯科技), for allegedly contravening the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) by poaching 70 engineers in Taiwan. Liu allegedly traveled to Taiwan at the end of 2014 and met with a Taiwanese man surnamed Lin (林) to discuss establishing a mobile software research and development (R&D) team in Taiwan, prosecutors said. Without approval from the government, Lin, following Liu’s instructions, recruited more than 70 software
Chinese spouse and influencer Guan Guan’s (關關) residency permit has been revoked for repeatedly posting pro-China videos that threaten national security, the National Immigration Agency confirmed today. Guan Guan has said many controversial statements in her videos posted to Douyin (抖音), including “the red flag will soon be painted all over Taiwan” and “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China,” and expressing hope for expedited reunification. The agency last year received multiple reports alleging that Guan Guan had advocated for armed reunification. After verifying the reports, the agency last month issued a notice requiring her to appear and explain her actions. Guan
RSS