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.
Taiwan is to commence mass production of the Tien Kung (天弓, “Sky Bow”) III, IV and V missiles by the second quarter of this year if the legislature approves the government’s NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.78 billion) special defense budget, an official said yesterday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said that the advanced systems are expected to provide crucial capabilities against ballistic and cruise missiles for the proposed “T-Dome,” an advanced, multi-layered air defense network. The Tien Kung III is an air defense missile with a maximum interception altitude of 35km. The Tien Kung IV and V
The disruption of 941 flights in and out of Taiwan due to China’s large-scale military exercises was no accident, but rather the result of a “quasi-blockade” used to simulate creating the air and sea routes needed for an amphibious landing, a military expert said. The disruptions occurred on Tuesday and lasted about 10 hours as China conducted live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait. The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said the exercises affected 857 international flights and 84 domestic flights, affecting more than 100,000 travelers. Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the government-sponsored Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said the air
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
A strong continental cold air mass is to bring pollutants to Taiwan from tomorrow, the Ministry of Environment said today, as it issued an “orange” air quality alert for most of the country. All of Taiwan except for Hualien and Taitung counties is to be under an “orange” air quality alert tomorrow, indicating air quality that is unhealthy for sensitive groups. In China, areas from Shandong to Shanghai have been enveloped in haze since Saturday, the ministry said in a news release. Yesterday, hourly concentrations of PM2.5 in these areas ranged from 65 to 160 micrograms per cubic meter (mg/m³), and pollutants were
RSS