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Updated Friday, December 23, 2011 0:14 am TWN, The China Post news staff

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Doctors rally after pollution survey

Taiwan's air quality ranked an abysmal 35 out of 38 countries surveyed by the World Health Organization (WHO), with Taipei at number 551 out of the 565 cities profiled, boasting an air quality on par with “smoker's paradise” Lebanon.

The terrible results prompted the medical industry to push for government action, with health advocates urging once again to scrap the controversial No. 6 Naphtha Cracking Project.

Experts put their heads together in a press conference held yesterday by the Taiwan Association of Obstetrics and Gynecology (台灣婦產科醫學會), the Changhua Medical Alliance for Public Affairs (MAPA, 彰化縣醫療界聯盟) and the Taiwan Academy Of Ecology (台灣生態學會).

Ko Wen-che (柯文哲), a surgeon at National Taiwan University Hospital (NTUH), spoke as a husband whose wife had suffered first-hand the consequences of air pollution — this March, the doctor's wife was diagnosed with lung cancer that had spread to the adrenal glands.

His wife, Ko explained, has never smoked a cigarette in her life and only discovered the disease by accident in an annual checkup. The surgical doctor described immediate procedures to remove the tumor and is thankful that no chemotherapy was required. The diagnosis was a shock, nonetheless.

Unbeknownst to the public, Taiwan boasts the highest rate of female lung cancer patients, despite the fact that it has a relatively low smoking population. Ko points to the air quality as the culprit, due to the island's particulate matter (PM) index, or severe “PM pollution” problem.

Every single person residing in Taiwan is inhaling the harmful particulates, said MAPA-associated doctor Huang Min-shen (黃敏生), pointing out that the WHO reports found Taiwan's air quality to be no better than countries frequently subjected to violent sandstorms.

If the government does not take some from of immediate measures, the public will continue to suffer the debilitating health effects of PM pollution, the doctor added.

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Comments

December 23, 2011 ludahai_twn@

No one cares about the air... money, money, money... who cares if we have terrible health... at least we have money... that is what the KMT has been teaching everyone for decades, isn't it???

December 23, 2011 milkalex@

Every time I leave the office I smell the fumes of scooters and now I read that it really makes me think shall I stay in Taiwan? Maybe more Taiwanese have to day as results of bad air before the government wakes up and forces cars and scooters to have cats or switch to E scooters as they do in China...Taiwan is destroying itself.

December 23, 2011 blairjames@

This isn't an entirely political issue: it's also a social one. It isn't solely 'the government's' fault - the people of Taiwan need to get on board with this: industry and the general public. The police need to enforce the laws which already exist. How many smoking cars, scooters, and heavy trucks have we all seen? How many of us know of technicians or engineers who have been ordered to alter emissions readings from factory stacks?

December 25, 2011 freeman70@

I just wish they would ban the burning of ghost money. That would probably cut the pollution from particulates by 80%. If Taiwan weren't an island with some strong winds and typhoons, the air quality would even be worse.

March 26, 2012 swpremaleef@

Superstitious beliefs (the burning of toxic paper) needs to be dropped for the sake of our children’s health. But I fear the Taiwanese are only interested in making money and do not care about the environment and beauty.