The Control Yuan yesterday censured the Department of Health (DOH) along with the Kaohsiung City and Kaohsiung County governments for their failure to prevent the spread of dengue fever, which has killed 13 people this year in the worst outbreak since the 1980s.
"The ongoing spread of dengue fever cases has seriously threatened the health of Taiwan citizens. The Department of Health, Kaohsiung City Government and Kaohsiung County Government have obviously been in dereliction of duty in their failure to control its spread," said Li You-chi (
The censure comes at the worst possible time for DPP Kaohsiung mayor Frank Hsieh (
According to the Control Yuan report, the DOH discontinued a program to prevent the disease which had been in place for 11 years, although it had been highly effective.
The DOH ended the program in 2000 after concluding that the number of dengue fever cases, which had declined to about 100 per year, could be contained by the nation's conventional medical infrastructure.
The report also said that the Kaohsiung city and county epidemic prevention workers were insufficiently trained and criticized both administrations for not employing their own personnel.
The report noted that between January and May of this year, there were 11 cases of dengue fever in Kaohsiung City, to which the city government paid scant attention. The disease began to spread in mid-June, but a citywide prevention plan was not proposed until August.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said it is fully aware of the situation following reports that the son of ousted Chinese politician Bo Xilai (薄熙來) has arrived in Taiwan and is to marry a Taiwanese. Local media reported that Bo Guagua (薄瓜瓜), son of the former member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, is to marry the granddaughter of Luodong Poh-Ai Hospital founder Hsu Wen-cheng (許文政). The pair met when studying abroad and arranged to get married this year, with the wedding breakfast to be held at The One holiday resort in Hsinchu
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon this morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan between Friday and Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The storm, which as of 8am was still 1,100km southeast of southern Taiwan, is currently expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, the CWA said. Because of its rapid speed — 28kph as of 8am — a sea warning for the storm could be issued tonight, rather than tomorrow, as previously forecast, the CWA said. In terms of its impact, Usagi is to bring scattered or
An orange gas cloud that leaked from a waste management plant yesterday morning in Taoyuan’s Guanyin District (觀音) was likely caused by acidic waste, authorities said, adding that it posed no immediate harm. The leak occurred at a plant in the district’s Environmental Science and Technology Park at about 7am, the Taoyuan Fire Department said. Firefighters discovered a cloud of unidentified orange gas leaking from a waste tank when they arrived on the site, it said, adding that they put on Level A chemical protection before entering the building. After finding there was no continuous leak, the department worked with the city’s Department
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