Liver disease, dubbed the “national disease” of Taiwanese for decades, continues to take the lives of an average of 35 people in the nation each day, and nearly 85 percent of liver cancer cases are caused by hepatitis B and hepatitis C, the Liver Disease Prevention and Treatment Research Foundation said.
The foundation made the remarks at a ceremony in Taipei on Saturday celebrating its 20th anniversary, during which it vowed to step up its decades-long effort to eliminate the cancer that has been the second-leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the country.
“If every patient with hepatitis B and hepatitis C is willing to receive regular screening tests and treatments before their condition turns into cirrhosis, we will be able to put an end to liver cancer within 20 years,” foundation chief executive officer Yang Pei-ming (楊培銘) said.
“Most liver disease patients pay little attention to the illnesses as they do not exhibit any noticeable symptoms. It is our job to encourage them to receive proper medical treatment and regular examinations, to avoid the notorious liver trilogy of hepatitis, cirrhosis and liver cancer,” Yang said.
Government statistics show that there are more than 2 million hepatitis B carriers and 400,000 hepatitis C patients in the nation.
Research has also suggested that people with chronic infection with hepatitis B, which can be medically managed, are 100 times more likely to develop liver cancer than those without the infection.
Foundation chairman Sheu Jin-chuan (許金川) said the foundation was established by six medical experts in 1994, including late Academia Sinica academician Sung Juei-low (宋瑞樓), who was dubbed the father of Taiwan’s liver disease study.
"Ever since Sung decided to lead a group of doctors in taking off their white coats and establishing the foundation, free liver disease screening tests have been offered to more than 400,000 people, and a distance equivalent to 177 nationwide trips around Taiwan has been traveled to provide free clinical services and health education to people living in remote areas," Hsu said.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
REASONS FOR TRAVEL: An assistant professor said that proposed amendments to penalize drivers if they used drugs overseas would not deter people from traveling People who operate a motor vehicle under the influence of marijuana would have their driver’s license revoked, even if they used the substance while overseas, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday, citing proposed amendments to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例). The amendments would also authorize the government to revoke the licenses of people determined to have used Category 1 or Category 2 narcotics, even if they were not operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs, as well as ban them from taking the license test for three years, the ministry said. People aged 18 or
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
RSS