With cancer diagnoses rising steadily nationwide, the National Health Insurance Administration (NHIA) yesterday said that it spent nearly NT$80 billion (US$2.56 billion) on cancer treatment last year, with the majority going to therapies for colorectal cancer.
The agency’s latest statistics showed that last year alone it allocated NT$78.2 billion to cancer treatment, accounting for about 13.3 percent of its total NT$590 billion in expenses for the year.
Colorectal cancer treatment topped the spending list with NT$10.9 billion, followed by lung cancers with NT$10.8 billion, breast cancers with NT$10.3 billion, liver cancers with NT$8.4 billion and oral cancers with NT$6.6 billion, the statistics showed.
Rounding out the top 10 most expensive cancers were leukemia with NT$4 billion, non-Hodgkin lymphomas at NT$3.9 billion, prostate cancers with NT$3.1 billion, stomach cancers with NT$2.5 billion and esophageal cancers, NT$2.3 billion.
“The treatment expenses included the costs of surgeries, examinations, anesthesia, hospital stays and medicines, as well as diagnostic fees, with prescription drug expenses for the 614,415 Taiwanese diagnosed with cancer last year amounting to NT$29.4 billion constituting the largest portion at nearly 30 percent,” agency researcher Chen Shang-pin (陳尚斌) said.
Chen said that the increase in spending on cancer drugs was the most prominent budget increase in the past three years, at 6.9 percent, followed by 5.8 percent growth in the total expenses for cancer treatments and 4.8 percent growth in the number of cancer patients.
Liver cancer drug costs saw the largest increase — 20.4 percent, while those for non-Hodgkin lymphomas and leukemia climbed by 13.7 percent and 11.9 percent respectively, Chen said.
“The significant growth in the cost of medicines could have been because the inclusion of new anticancer drugs into the National Health Insurance program over the past two years,” Chen said.
The NHIA would continue to widen insurance coverage to include more effective and advanced medicines to increase patients’ chances of recovery and survival, while reducing the financial burden of medical treatment for individuals.
The manufacture of the remaining 28 M1A2T Abrams tanks Taiwan purchased from the US has recently been completed, and they are expected to be delivered within the next one to two months, a source said yesterday. The Ministry of National Defense is arranging cargo ships to transport the tanks to Taiwan as soon as possible, said the source, who is familiar with the matter. The estimated arrival time ranges from late this month to early next month, the source said. The 28 Abrams tanks make up the third and final batch of a total of 108 tanks, valued at about NT$40.5 billion
A group from the Taiwanese Designers in Australia association yesterday represented Taiwan at the Midsumma Pride March in Melbourne. The march, held in the St. Kilda suburb, is the city’s largest LGBTQIA+ parade and the flagship event of the annual Midsumma Festival. It attracted more than 45,000 spectators who supported the 400 groups and 10,000 marchers that participated this year, the association said. Taiwanese Designers said they organized a team to march for Taiwan this year, joining politicians, government agencies, professionals and community organizations in showing support for LGBTQIA+ people and diverse communities. As the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex
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Travel agencies in Taiwan are working to secure alternative flights for travelers bound for New Zealand for the Lunar New Year holiday, as Air New Zealand workers are set to strike next week. The airline said that it has confirmed that the planned industrial action by its international wide-body cabin crew would go ahead on Thursday and Friday next week. While the Auckland-based carrier pledged to take reasonable measures to mitigate the impact of the workers’ strike, an Air New Zealand flight arriving at Taipei from Auckland on Thursday and another flight departing from Taipei for Auckland on Saturday would have to
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