The Taipei Department of Health yesterday said it would offer free biennial low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) screening for lung cancer to 1,000 police officers and firefighters aged 40 or older.
Lung cancer has been the leading cause of death in Taiwan for several years, and it was the most common type of cancer last year, Health Promotion Administration (HPA) data showed.
Among the 10 most common cancers in Taiwan, lung cancer has the lowest five-year survival rates, National Taiwan University Hospital Cancer Center deputy superintendent Hsu Hsao-hsun (徐紹勛) said.
Photo: Chang Tsung-chiu, Taipei Times
The five-year survival rates of lung cancer from stages 1 to 4 are 88.7 percent, 52.8 percent, 26.7 percent and 9.1 percent respectively, he said, adding that early-stage lung cancer often has no symptoms, so it is often diagnosed at a later stage.
The earlier lung cancer is detected, the higher the chance it can be cured with proper treatment, Hsu said, adding that LDCT scans are capable of detecting pulmonary nodules of 1cm or smaller, allowing people to get treatment earlier.
Department Health Promotion Division Director-General Lin Hsueh-lan (林雪蘭) said that the HPA provides a free biennial LDCT scan to men aged 45 or older and women aged 40 or older who have a family history of lung cancer and are heavy smokers.
The city government also allocated NT$40 million (US$1.21 million) this year to provide free LDCT scans to police officers and firefighters working in the city, she said.
Risk factors are not limited to smoking, cooking fumes or family history, as air pollution and workplace exposure also increase risk, Lin said, adding that police officers and firefighters often work in high-risk environments that expose them to harmful gases.
The department said that 1,000 slots would be provided each year, and eligible recipients can book an appointment with five main branches of the Taipei City Hospital for the free LDCT scan with their National Health Insurance card and service badge.
Actress Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛) has “returned home” to Taiwan, and there are no plans to hold a funeral for the TV star who died in Japan from influenza- induced pneumonia, her family said in a statement Wednesday night. The statement was released after local media outlets reported that Barbie Hsu’s ashes were brought back Taiwan on board a private jet, which arrived at Taipei Songshan Airport around 3 p.m. on Wednesday. To the reporters waiting at the airport, the statement issued by the family read “(we) appreciate friends working in the media for waiting in the cold weather.” “She has safely returned home.
A Vietnamese migrant worker on Thursday won the NT$12 million (US$383,590) jackpot on a scratch-off lottery ticket she bought from a lottery shop in Changhua County’s Puyan Township (埔鹽), Taiwan Lottery Co said yesterday. The lottery winner, who is in her 30s and married, said she would continue to work in Taiwan and send her winnings to her family in Vietnam to improve their life. More Taiwanese and migrant workers have flocked to the lottery shop on Sec 2 of Jhangshuei Road (彰水路) to share in the luck. The shop owner, surnamed Chen (陳), said that his shop has been open for just
MUST REMAIN FREE: A Chinese takeover of Taiwan would lead to a global conflict, and if the nation blows up, the world’s factories would fall in a week, a minister said Taiwan is like Prague in 1938 facing Adolf Hitler; only if Taiwan remains free and democratic would the world be safe, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an interview with Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. The ministry on Saturday said Corriere della Sera is one of Italy’s oldest and most read newspapers, frequently covers European economic and political issues, and that Wu agreed to an interview with the paper’s senior political analyst Massimo Franco in Taipei on Jan. 3. The interview was published on Jan. 26 with the title “Taiwan like Prague in 1938 with Hitler,” the ministry
Twenty-four Republican members of the US House of Representatives yesterday introduced a concurrent resolution calling on the US government to abolish the “one China” policy and restore formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Led by US representatives Tom Tiffany and Scott Perry, the resolution calls for not only re-establishing formal relations, but also urges the US Trade Representative to negotiate a free-trade agreement (FTA) with Taiwan and for US officials to advocate for Taiwan’s full membership in the UN and other international organizations. In a news release announcing the resolution, Tiffany, who represents a Wisconsin district, called the “one China” policy “outdated, counterproductive
RSS