The thalassemias are a heterogeneous group of inherited hypochromic anemias of varying severity. The mainstay of supportive treatment is regular blood transfusion accompanied by iron-chelating therapy. Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) provides an alternative option when curative therapy is considered. More than 400 patients in Taiwan have b-thalassemia major or other transfusion-dependent thalassemias, and their treatment costs account for a considerable percentage of the National Health Insurance expenditure. In this report, we estimated the treatment costs of conventional therapy (regular blood transfusion accompanied by iron-chelating agents) and HSCT. The undiscounted medical cost of

The prevalence of alcoholism was reported to be 0.1% in an aboriginal study on Taiwan using the census survey method in the 1950s. This study adopted a modified Chinese Diagnostic Interview Schedule to determine the prevalence of DSM-III-defined alcohol abuse (AA) and alcohol dependence (AD) in the Atayal, Paiwan and Yami ethnic groups of Taiwan aborigines. Stratified random sampling was used. The sample sizes of Atayal, Paiwan and Yami were 793, 656 and 106 respectively. The prevalence rates of DSM-III-defined AA and AD were 11.6%, 11.4% and 14.2%; and 9.0%, 8.1% and 6.4% respectively. No significant difference was found between the 3 ethnic groups. These prevalence figures are significantly higher than those for Chinese. In this comparative analysis, 2 distinct etiological hypotheses are proposed for the AA and the AD.

The objective of this study was to explore possible risk factors of alcohol abuse (AA) and dependence (AD), as defined by DSM-III criteria, in Taiwan aborigines. The risk factors in a sample of 1555 Taiwan aborigines were analyzed by using the chi-square test and multivariate logistic regression statistics. The logistic regression showed that the risk factors of AD are being male, having relatively little education, being involved in a problem marriage, being a laborer, being part of a couple with a drinking problem, and having a positive family history of alcoholism. AA has the risk factors of ethnic subgroups dwelling in the main Taiwan Island, male, poor education, working people, and a drinking problem for the couple. Etiological models are proposed as social origins for AA, with interactional model for AD, in this aboriginal sample. Data on Chinese alcoholism is discussed, and a generalized hypothesis constructed that, for the same phenotypical subtype of alcoholism in different ethnic groups, the etiological models are different.