The Taiwan Association of Gynecologic Oncologists yesterday urged women to receive a human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination at the youngest age possible to protect themselves from cervical cancer, which has increasingly endangered young women in Taiwan.
Citing statistics from the Ministry of Health and Welfare, association director-general Twu Nae-fang (屠乃方) said the occurrence rate of cervical cancer among Taiwanese women has dropped significantly, from 27 people per 100,000 in 1992 to 17 people per 100,000, thanks to the government’s work in promoting regular Pap tests since 1995.
“Despite the decline, the cancer that used to be prevalent among women in the 40-to-49 age group has now also been attacking younger women, primarily those aged from 30 to 39,” Twu said, adding that there were nearly 200 women under the age of 30 who were diagnosed with cervical cancer in 2011, including two who had not even reached their 20s.
Twu said the trend could be attributable to the gradual decrease in the age of women at their first sexual encounter, and young women’s insufficient awareness of the benefits of Pap tests.
In 2013, cervical cancer was ranked the 10th leading cause of cancer deaths in Taiwan, statistics showed. It killed a total of 702 Taiwanese women and developed in an average of five per day.
The most effective preventive measures against cervical cancer are undergoing regular Pap tests and getting vaccinated against HPV, Taiwan Immunization Vision and Strategy director-general Lee Ping-ing (李秉穎) said.
“Generally, HPV vaccines are given as a series of three shots, but the WHO advised in May last year that girls aged from nine to 14 need only two doses of HPV vaccine to create adequate protection against cervical cancer,” Lee said, adding that the two doses should be administered at least five months apart.
A group of Taiwanese-American and Tibetan-American students at Harvard University on Saturday disrupted Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng’s (謝鋒) speech at the school, accusing him of being responsible for numerous human rights violations. Four students — two Taiwanese Americans and two from Tibet — held up banners inside a conference hall where Xie was delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Harvard Kennedy School China Conference 2024. In a video clip provided by the Coalition of Students Resisting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), Taiwanese-American Cosette Wu (吳亭樺) and Tibetan-American Tsering Yangchen are seen holding banners that together read:
UNAWARE: Many people sit for long hours every day and eat unhealthy foods, putting them at greater risk of developing one of the ‘three highs,’ an expert said More than 30 percent of adults aged 40 or older who underwent a government-funded health exam were unaware they had at least one of the “three highs” — high blood pressure, high blood lipids or high blood sugar, the Health Promotion Administration (HPA) said yesterday. Among adults aged 40 or older who said they did not have any of the “three highs” before taking the health exam, more than 30 percent were found to have at least one of them, Adult Preventive Health Examination Service data from 2022 showed. People with long-term medical conditions such as hypertension or diabetes usually do not
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Heat advisories were in effect for nine administrative regions yesterday afternoon as warm southwesterly winds pushed temperatures above 38°C in parts of southern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 3:30pm yesterday, Tainan’s Yujing District (玉井) had recorded the day’s highest temperature of 39.7°C, though the measurement will not be included in Taiwan’s official heat records since Yujing is an automatic rather than manually operated weather station, the CWA said. Highs recorded in other areas were 38.7°C in Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門), 38.2°C in Chiayi City and 38.1°C in Pingtung’s Sandimen Township (三地門), CWA data showed. The spell of scorching