Hepatitis B and C are the main risk factors of liver cancer in Taiwan, but about 30 percent of people diagnosed with the diseases do not receive proper treatment, the Health Promotion Administration (HPA) said.
Liver cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in the nation, accounting for about 13,000 deaths each year, it said.
According to the HPA’s 2016 cancer registration data, approximately 11,000 people were diagnosed with liver cancer that year, and about 80 percent among them had hepatitis B or C.
However, as people with liver disease often do not experience symptoms, many cases are not detected until the diseases progress to later stages, the HPA said.
A survey by the HPA showed that about 30 percent of people with hepatitis B or C do not get follow-up treatment, while 56.2 percent said they do not think treatment is necessary because they do not experience symptoms and 15.7 percent said they did not know that seeing a doctor was necessary.
More than 50 percent of people with hepatitis C develop chronic hepatitis C and about 20 percent develop cirrhosis, with 3 to 5 percent of those with cirrhosis diagnosed with liver cancer every year, the HPA said.
HPA Director-General Wang Ying-wei (王英偉) said hepatitis B and C infection risk factors include sharing needles or personal hygiene items, and unsafe sex, while a healthy diet, regular exercise and not drinking alcohol to excess are avoidance factors.
The National Health Insurance Committee on Friday announced that while it has relaxed eligibility for government-funded hepatitis C oral medication, the Ministry of Health and Welfare last month told it that there was not enough funding.
To achieve the goal of eliminating hepatitis C by 2025, the committee said it has agreed that about NT$1.9 billion (US$61.1 million) can be appropriated from a budget surplus allocated for three other items to fund the hepatitis C medication.
Separately, free hepatitis B and C screenings were offered at the Taipei Confucius Temple (台北市孔廟) yesterday. The event was organized by local branches of Rotary International’s 3523 District and the Liver Disease Prevention and Treatment Research Foundation.
Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) said at the event that liver disease was once called the “national disease,” as 16 to 18 percent of the population were carriers of hepatitis B before the central government implemented a universal hepatitis B vaccination program in 1984.
The government should establish a liver disease screening registry to make more efficient use of medical resources and prevent repeated or missed screenings, Ko said.
Foundation chairperson Yang Pei-ming (楊培銘) said that there is medication to treat hepatitis B and C, so the goal should be to raise public awareness about liver disease screenings and proper treatment in the early stages.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck Kaohsiung at 1pm today, the Central Weather Administration said. The epicenter was in Jiasian District (甲仙), 72.1km north-northeast of Kaohsiung City Hall, at a depth of 7.8km, agency data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in Kaohsiung and Tainan, where it measured a 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale. It also measured a 3 in parts of Chiayi City, as well as Pingtung, Yunlin and Hualien counties, data showed.
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
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