Postmenopausal women should still go for a regular Pap smear test to screen for cervical cancer, a physician at Cathay General Hospital said.
Ho Chih-ming (何志明), director of the hospital’s Gynecologic Oncology Center, cited the case of a 70-year-old woman, surnamed Chiu (邱), who worked at a court in the US and returned to Taiwan after retirement, saying she used to get pap smear tests regularly, but stopped having them about six years ago after her gynecologist retired.
While massaging her stomach because of an abdominal swelling, Chiu experienced vaginal bleeding and went to see a doctor. She was diagnosed with stage two cervical cancer, and was treated with surgery, along with radiotherapy and chemotherapy, Ho said.
The hospital cited another case of a 55-year-old woman, surnamed Wu (吳), who was the head of a listed company and experienced heavy menstrual bleeding due to uterine fibroids.
Wu used to have a pap test every year, but stopped having the test after menopause. She was recently diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma of the cervix, which was also treated with surgery.
Ho said a research team in France has linked the incidence rate of cervical cancer with socioeconomic status, saying that people with lower incomes are twice as likely to develop the disease as people with higher incomes.
However, he said that the center recently treated several women from higher-income households, saying that some of them felt embarrassed to take the test and some thought it was unnecessary for postmenopausal women.
Ho said that data from the Health Promotion Administration showed that 11.2 percent of women who have not had a Pap test in more than three years said they felt embarrassed to take the test, even though a free government-funded Pap test is provided for women older than 30.
The incidence rate of cervical cancer is the seventh highest among all types of cancer in women in Taiwan, with about 1,600 new cases diagnosed and nearly 600 deaths each year, Ho said.
Ho added that the cure rate of cervical cancer before it develops into invasive cancer is nearly 100 percent, so getting a test done regularly is very important.
He urged women who are sexually active to get a Pap test each year, adding that if no abnormality is found for three consecutive years, they could reduce the frequency of taking the test to at least once every three years.
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
RSS