Women between 50 and 69 years old can now receive insurance-covered mammograms every two years to prevent breast cancer, the Bureau of Health Promotion announced at a Taipei press conference yesterday.
Noting the increasing incidence of breast cancer among older women, the agency urged hospitals and clinics nationwide to contract with the Bureau of National Health Insurance and encourage older women to have mammograms. Since the plan was launched on July 1st, 73 hospitals and clinics have been equipped with screening machines approved to provide the service.
PHOTO: WANG MING-WEI, TAIPEI TIMES
Every year, about 4,500 women are diagnosed with breast cancer and 1,200 die, according to the Department of Health. The probability of breast cancer rises with age. Breast self-examination and mammograms are recommended to detect the cancer at an early state.
"If the tumor is identified in the earliest stage, where cancer cells have not yet broken away from the primary tumor and not yet penetrated into lymphatic and blood vessels, we are confident that the survival rate could reach 80 percent to 90 percent without mastectomy," said Chang King-jen (張金堅), a gynecological surgeon at National Taiwan University Hospital.
"The key message here is simple: the deadly disease is not unpreventable," said Yang Yuh-cheng (
According to health officials, women's case histories for breast screening tests and cervical swabs will be computerized and recorded on their cards next year.
"By doing so, every time women go to the doctors, doctors will know the number and dates of tests that have been taken. Then the doctors can remind patients when to have mammographies and cervical swabs again," said the bureau's Kung Hsien-lan (孔憲蘭).
To fight cervical cancer, which takes 900 lives annually, the bureau subsidized 49 hospitals to offer a separate diagnosis room for cervical swabs to increase the service's accessibility.
Kung said that at Taipei General Veteran's Hospital, nurses actively inform patients at the registration counter about the swab service, and women can go directly to the consulting room without waiting for hours in the lounge, so about 100 more women per month take the tests.
"In the near future, we will demand that more regional hospitals actively inform patients and offer more immediate services. By widening the service's outreach, we hope to boost the test rate from the current 53 percent to 80 percent," Kung said.
POLAM KOPITIAM CASE: Of the two people still in hospital, one has undergone a liver transplant and is improving, while the other is being evaluated for a liver transplant A fourth person has died from bongkrek acid poisoning linked to the Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said yesterday, as two other people remain seriously ill in hospital. The first death was reported on March 24. The man had been 39 years old and had eaten at the restaurant on March 22. As more cases of suspected food poisoning involving people who had eaten at the restaurant were reported by hospitals on March 26, the ministry and the Taipei Department of Health launched an investigation. The Food and
The long-awaited Taichung aquarium is expected to open next year after more than a decade of development. The building in Cingshui District (清水) is to feature a large ocean aquarium on the first floor, coral display area on the second floor, a jellyfish tank and Dajia River (大甲溪) basin display on the third, a river estuary display and restaurant on the fourth, and a cafe and garden on the fifth. As it is near Wuci Fishing Port (梧棲漁港), many are expecting the opening of the aquarium to bring more tourism to the harbor. Speaking at the city council on Monday, Taichung City Councilor
A fourth person has died in a food poisoning outbreak linked to the Xinyi (信義) branch of Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in Taipei, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said on Monday. It was the second fatality in three days, after another was announced on Saturday. The 40-year-old woman experienced multiple organ failure in the early hours on Monday, and the family decided not to undergo emergency resuscitation, Wang said. She initially showed signs of improvement after seeking medical treatment for nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, but her condition worsened due to an infection, he said. Two others who
Taiwanese should be mindful when visiting China, as Beijing in July is likely to tighten the implementation of policies on national security following the introduction of two regulations, a researcher said on Saturday. China on Friday unveiled the regulations governing the law enforcement and judicial activities of national security agencies. They would help crack down on “illegal” and “criminal” activities that Beijing considers to be endangering national security, according to reports by China’s state media. The definition of what constitutes a national security threat in China is vague, Taiwan Thinktank researcher Wu Se-chih (吳瑟致) said. The two procedural regulations are to provide Chinese