Deaths from diseases related to the “three highs” — high blood pressure, high blood lipids or high blood sugar — exceed that of cancers, the Health Promotion Administration (HPA) said yesterday, as it shared several hospitals’ plans for raising public awareness about the issue.
HPA Director-General Shen Ching-fen (沈靜芬) said the leading causes of deaths last year included heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, diabetes, hypertensive disease, acute kidney failure and chronic kidney disease, which are all related to the “three highs.”
The diseases caused more than 61,000 deaths last year, accounting for about 30 percent of all deaths, exceeding the 54,000 deaths caused by cancers, Shen said.
Photo: CNA
To achieve President William Lai’s (賴清德) “888” three-highs prevention policy goal, the HPA this year is encouraging hospitals to come up with creative plans to raise public awareness about the issue, she said.
The “888” prevention strategy is to have 80 percent of three-high patients included in a healthcare network, and 80 percent of patients in the network receive lifestyle counseling and treatment in eight years.
To help people detect the “three highs” and other health risks, the HPA this year lowered the minimum eligible age for government-funded Adult Preventive Health Services to aged 30, Shen said, adding that hospitals have been asked to contact those who had abnormal results from the exams for follow-up tests or treatment.
The HPA said this year it held a creativity strategy competition for hospitals to submit their solutions for encouraging “three highs” prevention, with 81 hospitals submitting 105 projects, and 29 of them were awarded yesterday for their exceptional performance.
Chu Shang Show Chwan Hospital in Nantou County combined local folk religion into its efforts by cooperating with Zihnan Temple — a temple where people pray for wealth in the county’s Jhushan Township (竹山) — to give out special coins when people get their heath exams, which attracted many elderly residents.
The hospital’s deputy superintendent Tsai wei-chuan (蔡味娟) said Jhushan Township is a remote area with a relatively old population and many elderly residents were motivated to get a health test as people usually need to line up for hours during the Lunar New Year holiday to receive a special coin, but now they can get a health test and a special coin for free at the same time.
The number of people who received public-funded Adult Preventive Health Services at the hospital increased by about 31 percent, she said, adding that the hospital is to expand the cooperation to encourage people to utilize its cancer screening services.
Other examples include Chien-yu Hospital in Kaohsiung which helped convenience stores and the borough office in Linyuan District (林園) establish free blood pressure self-monitoring stations and hold challenging activities to encourage people to monitor their blood pressure regularly, while Cathay General Hospital has designed a card game for players to simulate roles with different lifestyles and habits to learn about the health impacts, the HPA said.
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