Why did the special method of betel nut jump? The death toll from oral cancer has reached a 10-year high, and people from all walks of life call for a special law without delay.

0share

In 2019, the death toll from oral cancer exceeded 3,000, a 10-year high. December 3 this year is the 24th Betelnut Prevention and Control Day. Taiwan's Betelnut Control and Oral Cancer Alliance today (2) released the results of a survey on the prevention and treatment of oral cancer in all counties and cities in Taiwan. Scholars and non-governmental organizations called on the government to formulate a "special law on betel nut control" as soon as possible.

Betel nut is the second largest crop in Taiwan, but there were no pesticides and food additives in the past. The upstream and downstream tested betel nut on the market last year and found serious residues of pesticides and heavy metals. In December last year, Executive Yuan Administrative Councillor Lin Yi said that he would formulate a special law on betel nut, and several supervisory committee members also launched an investigation into the management of betel nut. The investigation report clearly pointed out that the Executive Yuan needs to integrate relevant departments and formulate special laws for management.

A year later, the Council of Agriculture finally took the first step in standardizing the use of betel nut medicine, but the Ministry of Health and Welfare still refused to formulate food-related standards for betel nut, and the special law on betel nut that people from all walks of life looked forward to was a long way off.

Lack of management of betel nut spray not only harms the ecological environment, but also harms people's health (Photo courtesy / Lai Pengzhi) the death toll from oral cancer has increased rather than decreased, claiming 3,000 lives a year.

There are millions of people chewing champagne in the country, but there is no control over the pesticides, heavy metals and additives of betel nut. Over the past 30 years, the government has adopted a "three-no" strategy of "no counseling, no encouragement, no prohibition." This not only caused havoc in the ecological environment, but also seriously endangered the health of the people. Today, even the most basic health education work lacks funds and manpower.

The results of this survey show that the health service of abstinence from champagne in 22 counties and cities is disintegrating year by year, with 60,000 people receiving abstinence service in 2017, 20,000 in 2018, less than 10,000 in 2019, and more than 3,000 oral cancer deaths in 2019, reaching a 10-year high. The Taiwan Betelnut Prevention and Control and Oral Cancer Alliance called on the central government to continue to actively formulate a special law on betel nut harm prevention and control, so that front-line staff can carry out prevention and control work effectively.

Li Ming-hsien, a professor in the Department of Education and potential Development at Donghua University, the convener of the investigation team, explains that over the past four years, the health insurance expenditure for oral cancer has increased year after year, and the death toll has increased instead of decreasing. In the past decade, the death toll has reached 27959. Compared with Covid-19, oral cancer kills more than 3,000 people every year, posing a greater threat to the health and safety of the Chinese people.

Li Mingxian pointed out that the factors causing oral cancer are closely related to the consumption of betel nut, but in terms of policy, the performance evaluation of betel nut and oral cancer prevention and control is few, and the oral cancer prevention and treatment support provided by grass-roots hospitals is limited. follow-up care and withdrawal after hospitalization are lack of manpower and funds. The prevention and control issues promoted by schools, communities, hospitals and health bureaus at all levels have not been effectively integrated, and there is a great gap in the importance of tobacco damage and betel nut control on campus. "Betelnut is almost ignored compared to smoking."

In 2019, the death toll from oral cancer reached a 10-year high, and scholars and civil society called on the government to set up a "betel nut prevention law" as soon as possible. (photo / Lin Yijun) the Executive Yuan promised to enact a special law, but jumped a year later.

Since the publication of the betel nut topic "upstream and downstream" in July last year, it has attracted wide attention from all walks of life. in December last year, Lin Yi, an administrative member of the Executive Yuan, declared that it would be better than