Twenty-three years on, Jackie Shao (邵于玲) still remembers the pang of grief when she lost her father to acute hepatitis B.
She also remembers an eight-year-old girl's confusion when she was diagnosed with the same disease three months after her father's death.
As Shao came of age, it dawned on her that she would carry the virus for the rest of her life.
"Now it doesn't bother me too much," Shao said in a calm tone.
As she is busy teaching at the Taipei Physical Education College, the dull pain captures her only when she takes a stroll down memory lane.
"I feel good to be alive," she said, "And I know I am lucky to survive."
Shao is lucky indeed, given the high prevalence and mortality rate of hepatitis B in Taiwan in the 1980s. Twenty years ago, one in six Taiwanese was born with the hepatitis B virus (HBV). Three people a day died of liver cancer and cirrhosis incurred by hepatitis B.
Hepatitis B was Taiwan's national disease. Taiwanese referred to it as one's "destiny," since HBV was passed from mother to baby, from generation to generation. Even now, vertical transmission still accounts for 40 to 50 percent of total infections, according to statistics from the Center for Disease Control.
As the specter of hepatitis B loomed over the entire country in the 1980s, the government was motivated to fight back. In 1984, it took the pioneering step of vaccinating every newborn. Taiwan became the first nation to launch a comprehensive vaccination program against hepatitis B.
Children born since 1984 have been immunized from HBV, which protects them for at least 15 years. The immunization policy has significantly reduced the prevalence of the disease in the past two decades, from 17 percent to 1.7 percent of the population.
"We fought the battle and we won the battle," Department of Health Director-General Chen Chien-jen (
"We expect the disease to disappear by 2030," Chen said.
While the rate of new hepatitis B cases is low, health experts have called on the government and academics to tackle emerging health challenges.
Because the disease is trans-mitted via exposure to bodily fluids containing the virus, experts are worried that it may resurface if young people engage in unprotected sex or re-use contaminated needles, as their antibody levels may decline as they grow older.
In addition, not everyone who is vaccinated develops the necessary antibodies.
"About 10 to 15 percent of people do not respond to the current vaccine," said Chang Mei-hwei (
"The future challenge lies in our ability to develop more effective vaccines with longer protection," Chang said.
"Hepatitis B will never be extinct, but we can work to lower the prevalence rate, to 0.1 percent, and to 0.01 percent. It is a never-ending task," she said.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS