The Liver Disease Prevention and Treatment Research Foundation is to offer free abdominal ultrasonography to 1,200 people in Taipei on Sunday to mark the foundation’s 20th anniversary of its establishment by attempting to set a new Guinness World Record.
The foundation said the event would be held on the first floor of the foundation’s headquarters in Taipei’s Zhongzheng District (中正) on Sunday between 9am and 3pm, where 50 of the nation’s top gastroenterologists will conduct abdominal ultrasound scans on 1,200 people free of charge to screen them for liver diseases.
Foundation chief executive Yang Pei-ming (楊培銘) said liver disease has been dubbed the “national disease” of Taiwan, as it kills more than 10,000 people a year.
“Currently, there are about 2.5 million hepatitis B carriers and 400,000 hepatitis C carriers in Taiwan,” Yang said.
“Hepatitis B carriers are 150 times more likely to develop liver cancer than those without the disease, while hepatitis C is the nation’s second-most common virus,” Yang said.
Yang said a thorough liver examination not only requires an abdominal ultrasound scan, but also blood tests for hepatitis B surface antigens and antibodies, hepatitis C virus antibodies alpha-fetoprotein, alanine transaminase and aspartate transaminase.
“Hepatitis B and C carriers should be particularly keen to undergo a regular physical examination and follow-ups,” Yang said.
“It is the only way they can detect liver cancer cells before they spread,” Yang added.
The foundation said the 1,200 slots are available to people aged 40 or above — particularly those infected with hepatitis B or C — on a first-come first-served basis.
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