Taiwan Today
Date: November 11, 2015

Taiwan’s first proton and radiation therapy center was inaugurated Nov. 10 at Chang Gung

Memorial Hospital in Linkou District, New Taipei City, raising the bar for cancer treatment in the country.

The NT$5.4 billion (US$165.1 million) facility boasts four proton treatment and 10 X-ray treatment rooms, and is capable of providing linear accelerator treatment to 3,000 and proton beam treatment to 1,500 patients annually, according to CGMH.

Dr. Hong Ji-hong, vice president of the hospital, said proton therapy is one of the world’s most advanced and precise medical procedures designed to fight cancer.

“By utilizing a pencil-thin proton beam, the equipment can accurately target a tumor without damaging normal tissue,” he said. “The energy will only be released as it reaches the desired depth of the targeted site to kill off cancerous cells.”

In clinical trials, the therapy proves especially efficient when dealing with undisseminated local tumors, particularly skull base and paraspinal tumors, uveal melanomas and unresectable sarcomas, Hong added. A 30-minute proton therapy treatment session costs approximately NT$21,000.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/11/10
By: Chen Wei-ting and Kay Liu

Taipei, Nov. 10 (CNA) The southern city of Tainan has seen fewer new dengue fever cases, but the neighboring city of Kaohsiung remains at the peak of an outbreak of the disease there, according to data released Tuesday.

The total number of dengue fever cases since May 1 had climbed by 239 to 31,995 as of 6 p.m. Monday, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

In comparison, Taiwan reported a total of 15,732 dengue fever cases in 2014, which was the highest annual number since the authorities began keeping such records.

The two southern cities have been the worst-hit areas by the mosquito-borne disease, with Tainan confirming 33 new cases Monday, pushing the total number of cases to 22,195 since summer began.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/11/09
By: Chang Jung-hsiang and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, Nov. 9 (CNA) A new hybrid rocket built by a research team from National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) was launched Oct. 28, the university announced Monday.

The rocket took off from a beach in Mudan Township, Pingtung County, and reached an altitude of 9 kilometers, a record high for a hybrid rocket launched by any university in Asia, according to the team leader, Chao Yi-chin (趙怡欽), director of the Aerospace Science Department of NCKU.

The rocket’s launch, which required 1,000 kilogram-force (kgf) thrust, represents a key technological breakthrough and indicates that the hybrid rocket development program can ultimately progress beyond the laboratory stage and enter the application stage, Chao said.

The rocket measures 5.3 meters in height, 28 cm in diameter and weighs 194 kg in take-off weight, according to Chao.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2015-11-06
By: Central News Agency

Some 11,000 healthy ducks at a farm in central Taiwan’s Yunlin County were culled a day

earlier after a highly pathogenic subtype of the H5 bird flu virus was detected near the farm, agriculture officials said Thursday.

The virus was found within one kilometer of the duck farm in Dongshi Township, Yunlin County, so epidemic-control officials followed the relevant rules and regulations to cull the ducks even though they were still in good health, said Liao Pei-chih, director of the county’s Institute of Animal and Plant Health.

After the precautionary act, the duck farm was disinfected, he said, urging poultry farmers to be on alert for any abnormal signs with their animals.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/11/05
By: Lee Hsin-Yin

Taipei, Nov. 5 (CNA) The number of dengue fever cases reported since the start of May

has reached 30,599, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said Thursday.

As of a day earlier, the southern cities of Kaohsiung and Tainan, where the dengue fever outbreak has been concentrated this summer, had reported 240 and 54 new cases, respectively.

The outbreak remains concentrated in the two cities, where 8,062 and 21,996 cases, respectively, have been reported since May 1.

The CDC said the epidemic continues to surge in Kaohsiung, while in Tainan it is on a steady decline, adding that more disease-control efforts will be shifted to Kaohsiung.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2015-11-03
By: By Lee Hsin-Yin, Central News Agency

Taipei, Nov. 3 (CNA) The number of dengue fever cases reported since the start of May could soon break the 30,000 threshold, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) on Tuesday.

As of Monday, 29,921 cases were seen islandwide, an increase of 337 cases from the previous day, the CDC said. The outbreak remains concentrated in the southern Taiwan cities of Tainan and Kaohsiung, where 21,874 and 7,521 cases were seen, respectively.

The CDC data showed that the epidemic continues to surge in Kaohsiung, where a record-high daily increase of 252 cases was reported. However, the situation in Tainan has been abating, with 76 new cases seen overnight, the agency said. In 2014, Taiwan reported 15,732 dengue fever cases, the highest annual number since the authorities began keeping such records. Previous to that, the highest number of cases recorded in a single year was around 2,000, both in 2007 and 2010

Taiwan News
Date: 2015-11-02
By: Ko Lin, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

An employee working at the Taipei City government has been confirmed to have

contracted dengue fever, reports said Monday.

A female public servant aged 31, who had visited Kaohsiung’s Xiaoliuchiu island between November 16 and 18, succumbed to fever four days after returning to Taipei. She was later admitted to a local hospital last Thursday as her symptoms failed to show signs of improvement.

The Taipei City government has called on health authorities to begin spraying pesticides on all three floors of its office building later in the evening to contain further spread of the mosquito-borne disease.

The case on Monday was the second indigenous dengue fever accounted in Taipei from Kaohsiung, according to the city’s health department.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2015-11-01
By: Ko Lin, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Smoking may soon be banned in the commercial areas around Taipei’s Xinyi and

Ximending districts, the city’s Department of Health said Sunday.

As part of Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je’s initiative to curb smoking in public places and to promote the city’s smoke-free areas, health authorities revealed that it will set a trial period for an undisclosed amount of time.

However, the Health Promotion Division Director Lin Meng-hui said it is still seeking supports from surrounding shop owners, as they fear the ban would put off incoming tourists and young buyers who often frequent around the area.

During the trial period, a partial ban will be imposed daily from 6 p.m. to midnight, according to the local media.     [FULL  STORY]