The Indigenous Peoples Health Act (原住民族健康法), which seeks to address the shorter average lifespan of indigenous people through improved resources, passed its third reading at the legislature yesterday.
Ministry of the Interior statistics show that the average lifespan of indigenous people is 6.94 years shorter than the national average.
The act says that the difference might be due to lifestyle, environmental and biological factors creating health issues unique to indigenous communities, as well as lower levels of access to medical resources.
Photo: Tien Yu-hua, Taipei Times
The act would require health officials to regularly investigate and study the health status and needs of people living in indigenous communities, build a health database for those communities and train healthcare personnel for their specific needs.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare would be required to “recruit representatives of indigenous peoples, representatives of relevant agencies and experts in the healthcare of indigenous peoples.”
The act would require the health minister to convene meetings on policy issues related to indigenous people’s health at which “no less than half of the members should be recognized as members of indigenous communities.”
The act stipulates that the Ministry of Health and Welfare should cooperate with the Ministry of Education to maintain a specified number of publicly funded spots in medical training programs, “to ensure the provision of medical services in indigenous communities and to ensure an adequate number of properly trained healthcare personnel in those communities.”
The education ministry should also encourage the inclusion in the curriculum of medical programs with content related to the specific health needs of indigenous communities, it says.
Recruitment at healthcare institutions in areas with indigenous populations should also give priority to candidates who are proficient in locally spoken indigenous languages, it says.
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
MILITARY AID: Taiwan has received a first batch of US long-range tactical missiles ahead of schedule, with a second shipment expected to be delivered by 2026 The US’ early delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Taiwan last month carries political and strategic significance, a military source said yesterday. According to the Ministry of National Defense’s budget report, the batch of military hardware from the US, including 11 sets of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 64 MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, had been scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. However, the first batch arrived last month, earlier than scheduled, with the second batch —18 sets of HIMARS, 20 MGM-140 missiles and 864 M30
Representative to the US Alexander Yui delivered a letter from the government to US president-elect Donald Trump during a meeting with a former Trump administration official, CNN reported yesterday. Yui on Thursday met with former US national security adviser Robert O’Brien over a private lunch in Salt Lake City, Utah, with US Representative Chris Stewart, the Web site of the US cable news channel reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “During that lunch the letter was passed along, and then shared with Trump, two of the sources said,” CNN said. O’Brien declined to comment on the lunch, as did the Taipei
A woman who allegedly attacked a high-school student with a utility knife, injuring his face, on a Taipei metro train late on Friday has been transferred to prosecutors, police said yesterday. The incident occurred near MRT Xinpu Station at about 10:17pm on a Bannan Line train headed toward Dingpu, New Taipei City police said. Before police arrived at the station to arrest the suspect, a woman surnamed Wang (王) who is in her early 40s, she had already been subdued by four male passengers, one of whom was an off-duty Taipei police officer, police said. The student, 17, who sustained a cut about
RSS