Women in Taiwan live longer than men on average, but are they healthy enough? During the “2013 International Conference on Women and Health” held on Monday by the Health Promotion Administration under the Ministry of Health, it was mentioned that disability-adjusted life years (DALY) are higher for women than for men in Taiwan, and that stillbirths and infant deaths are twice as likely to occur among Aboriginal women as they are among non-Aboriginal women.
Bureau Director-General Chiou Shu-ti said that 50 years ago women in Taiwan lived 4.1 years longer than men on average, which now has increased to 6.7 years. When looking at healthy life years (HLY), however, the average HLY for women is 7.6 years shorter, while the difference is only 6.3 years for men, showing that although women may live longer they are relatively less healthy at the end of life, with higher DALYs and more years spent being looked after by others.
The dearth of exercise among women in Taiwan is probably one of the main reasons for the gap between HLYs and average life expectancies, Chiou says, adding that three out of four women in Taiwan do not exercise, which puts Taiwan in last place when compared to countries that belong to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Around two out of three men in Taiwan also do not exercise, placing Taiwan just before last place among OECD countries.
Photo courtesy of the Social Affairs Bureau in New Taipei city
照片由新北市社會局提供
Chiou says that while the social status of women in Taiwan has continued to improve, which can be seen in the number of women with access to higher level education and women in the work force between the ages of 25 and 44 — both outnumbering males — women’s wages are still lower than men on average and they only account for 30 percent of high level positions, such as judges, university presidents and high government officials. Gender equality in Taiwan still has plenty of room for improvement, Chiou says.
(Liberty Times, Translated by Kyle Jeffcoat)
台灣女性平均比男性活得長，但活得夠健康嗎？國民健康署週一召開「二０一三年婦女與健康國際研討會」，會中提到，女性壽命中的失能年數長於男性，而且原住民女性的新生兒死亡率與嬰兒死亡率，都是非原住民的兩倍。
署長邱淑媞表示，台灣女性五十年前平均壽命就比男性多四點一歲，現在更已擴大到六點七歲。但若以「健康餘命」來看，女性健康餘命卻比平均壽命短七點六歲，男性的差距則只六點三歲，顯示女性雖然壽命較長，生命末期卻比較不健康，失能、需照顧的年數可能較長。
邱淑媞指出，台灣女性健康餘命與平均壽命的落差，應與運動習慣不盛有關。四分之三台灣女性沒有運動習慣，與經濟合作與發展組織(OECD)國家相比，是倒數第一，台灣男性沒有運動習慣者也高達三分二，比照OECD國家是倒數第二。
邱淑媞指出，台灣女性的社會地位不斷提升，表現在高等教育比率、二十五到四十四歲勞動參與率，都優於男性，平均薪水卻低於男性，高階職位如大法官、大學校長、政府高層，女性也只占三成。邱淑媞認為，台灣性別平等還有許多努力空間。
（自由時報記者邱宜君）
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