The Taipei Department of Health has woked in conjunction with 23 hospitals since last year to provide fully subsidized lung cancer screening to members of high-risk groups, it said yesterday.
Although Taipei’s lung cancer rate is the second-lowest in the nation, about 1,000 Taipei residents die of the disease each year, the department said.
Among 10 major causes of cancer, lung and bronchial cancer in 2021 caused the most deaths in Taiwan, about one person every 52 minutes, Ministry of Health and Welfare data showed.
Cancer deaths in Taipei amount to about 17.2 people per 100,000, which is the second-lowest in the nation, the Taipei health department said.
Risk factors include smoking, continuous exposure to secondhand smoke, air pollution and a family history of lung cancer, the department said.
Studies have suggested that lung cancer often goes undiagnosed until its late stages, reducing five-year survival rates to less than than 30 percent, it said.
Department Commissioner Chen Yen-yuan (陳彥元) said his department since last year has worked with hospitals and the Health Promotion Administration (HPA) to implement fully funded cancer screening for people with high risk factors related to lung cancer.
The screening is to be conducted via a low-dose computed tomography scan every two years.
People eligible for the screening include regular smokers aged 50 to 74, and others in the same age range with a family history of lung cancer, with the minimum age starting at 45 for women, Chen said.
A total of 2,937 eligible Taipei residents last year received the screening, with 49 people diagnosed with lung cancer, about 80 percent of whom were detected at an early stage, Chen said.
About 85 percent of lung cancer deaths are related to smoking, the largest risk factor, and smokers should consult one of the 347 contracted healthcare facilities that offer smoking cessation services, or the HPA toll-free smoking cessation consultation line (0800-636-363), the Taipei health department said.
More than 130 community health screening activities are scheduled throughout Taipei this year, which includes not only a lung cancer screening referral and booking service, but screening for hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and other cancers, along with a general adult health examination, the department said.
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