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Background On 11 January 2009, Taiwan expanded its smoke-free legislation to all indoor public places and workplaces. This study examined the impact of this policy on secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure in adult non-smokers, across gender and socioeconomic status groups (SES). Methods An annual sample of about 13 000-14 000 non-smokers was drawn from cross-sectional nationwide data of Taiwan Adult Tobacco Behavior Surveys during 2005-2011. Logistic regressions were used to analyse the aggregate data to estimate the association between the 2009 smoke-free legislation and SHS exposures in homes and workplaces. Interaction terms were used to examine the impact of the 2009 smoke-free policy on reducing differences in SHS exposure across gender, education and income groups. Results The 2009 policy reduced the odds of SHS exposure in homes in 2009 (OR=0.76, 95% CI 0.68 to 0.84) and in workplaces (year 2009: OR=0.49, 95% CI 0.39 to 0.62; year 2010: OR=0.79, 95% CI 0.66 to 0.95). The model with interaction terms showed that men were more likely than women to be exposed to workplace SHS (OR=2.02, 95% CI 1.80 to 2.27) but were less likely to be exposed to home SHS (OR=0.79, 95% CI 0.73 to 0.86). SHS exposure in homes was significantly related to lower socioeconomic status, but the 2009 smoke-free policy reduced the difference in SHS exposure across education levels. Conclusions The 2009 smoke-free policy reduced the SHS exposure for non-smokers. However, this impact on home SHS did not persist after 2009, and the effect of protection was unequal across gender and SES groups. Thus, further enforcement of smoking restrictions would be needed to reduce the risk of SHS exposure and improve protection against SHS risk among parts of the population with lower socioeconomic status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Media guidelines for suicide reporting are available in many countries. However, to what extent the mass media comply with the guidelines is unknown. Few studies are available that investigate systematically whether the mass media reflect the epidemiological reality of suicide deaths in their articles. Methods: Based on the WHO media guidelines, this study investigated the characteristics of newspaper articles of suicides in three Chinese communities, namely Hong Kong, Taiwan and Guangzhou. Epidemiological comparisons were conducted to identify the age and gender differences between the suicide victims as reported in the newspapers and the official records of suicide deaths in all three places. Results: The results found that one media characteristic complied with the WHO media guidelines (ie, only about 2% of the articles were printed on the front page), but there were a number of instances of non-compliance (ie, only 4--14% provided sources for help-seeking and 27--90% printed with photos). The epidemiological comparisons revealed an over-representation of younger suicides and an under-representation of late-life suicides in the newspapers of all three places. Furthermore, female suicides were found to be under-reported in Taiwan and Guangzhou newspapers, but not in Hong Kong papers. Conclusion: Non-compliant suicide articles are prevalent in the newspapers of these three Chinese settings. The observed media misrepresentations may potentially mislead the public and the policy makers about the actual risk for suicide in some demographic groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SARS, like HIV, placed healthcare workers at risk and raised issues about the duty to treat. But philosophical accounts of the duty to treat that were developed in the context of HIV did not adequately address some of the ethical issues raised by SARS. Since the next epidemic may be more like SARS than HIV, it is important to illuminate these issues. In this paper, we sketch a general account of the duty to treat that arose in response to HIV. Our purpose is not to defend or criticise this account, but to show that it needs to be developed in order to address three important issues. The first issue concerns how risks should be distributed among healthcare professionals. The second issue concerns the conflicts that arise between professional duties and family duties. The third issue concerns the forms of support that societies owe healthcare workers during epidemics. Our descriptions of these issues are drawn from our experience of the SARS epidemic in Taiwan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Since market liberalisation in 1987, the Taiwan Tobacco and Wine Monopoly Bureau (TTWMB) annual statistics indicate that both the demand for imported cigarettes as well as the number of seized smuggled packs have increased with an average revenue loss of NT$4942 million over the past 15 years. The NT$10 average increase in cigarette prices after Taiwan entered the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the implementation of the Tobacco and Alcohol Tax Law in 2002 are forcing policy makers to examine smuggling even more closely. This study evaluates factors that affect an individual smoker's decision to purchase smuggled cigarettes, particularly when faced with higher prices. Design: 437 male smokers of imported cigarettes were drawn from a national interview survey on cigarette consumption, which the Division of Health Policy Research at the National Health Research Institutes conducted during the year 2000. Multiple logistic regression models were used to analyse the behaviour of purchasing smuggled cigarettes with respect to demographic factors, economic factors, smoking behaviour, and other variables. Results: Cigarette price was the driving factor most closely linked to the purchase of smuggled cigarettes—a 1% increase in cigarette price raised the likelihood of purchasing smuggled cigarettes at least 2.60 times (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.08 to 6.26). Smokers who spent more than NT$1000/month on cigarettes were twice as likely to purchase smuggled cigarettes as those who spent less than NT$1000 (odds ratio (OR) 2.34, 95% CI 1.48 to 3.70). Betel nut chewers were more likely to purchase smuggled cigarettes (OR 1.80, 95% CI 1.09 to 2.90). Smokers who opposed cigarette taxation policy were 1.69 times more likely to buy smuggled cigarettes. Personal income was not significantly associated with smuggled cigarettes purchases. Conclusions: This study evaluates what causes smokers to purchase smuggled cigarettes. We have determined that cigarette... INSET: What this paper adds.. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]