Past Issues
The 2007 Amendment Mental Health Act in Taiwan: To Protect Psychiatric Human Rights
Frank Huang-Chih Chou
In 1981, the government of Taiwan commissioned
a private mental health organization to develop
a draft of the mental health act (MHA),
which has the purpose of protecting the public and
reducing the degree of danger from psychiatric
patient. The MHA stressed the need to balance the
rights of the individual sand society. Two important
social incidents involving the assault behavior
of psychotic patients: students being thrown
sulfuric acid on children at Yingqiao Elementary
School in Taipei, and a government offi cial being
killed by his wife who was suffering from paranoia.
The MHA was fi nally enacted in 1990.
| Key Word |
|---|