About 90 percent of women believe the government should allocate more resources to the prevention of cancer in women, a recent survey conducted by a newly established women’s cancer society showed.
Yesterday marked the establishment of the Women’s Cancer Society of Taiwan (台灣女性癌症協會), the first such society in the country dedicated to caring for women cancer patients. During the press conference, Tseng Chi-jen (曾志仁), society chairman and chief of Chiayi Chang Gung Memorial Hospital’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, presented the findings of a survey on major problems caused by cancer that affect women.
A total of 910 women over 20 years of age from various parts of the country were surveyed last month.
Of them, 21.4 percent said they had a family member or friend who had been affected by breast or cervical cancer. Of those who have breast or cervical cancer, “fear of dying” was the main concern, with 36.8 percent of respondents admitting to this worry, followed by “breast ablation,” “removal of uterus” and “loss of reproductive abilities.”
“Many women worry that they won’t be able to bear children and that their husbands would abandon them,” said Tseng, who has seen this happen to many of his patients.
Tseng said that many of his patients’ husbands leave because they cannot deal with the fact that many aspects of their lives are changed dramatically by cancer.
“Women [with cervical cancer] who have had surgery may suffer from leaking urine through their vagina. When this happens, [the woman] cannot have sexual intercourse ... Recently, the average age of cervical cancer patients has become lower, so their husbands are also younger. Many young husbands have affairs or leave their wives as a result,” he said.
Citing the survey, Tseng said that 43.8 percent believed the government was not doing enough to provide medical care and funding for female cancer patients, while 83.5 percent said women patients in minority groups should have priority in terms of government funding.
One of the society’s goals is to push for integration in the areas of cancer prevention and post-cancer therapy and counseling, Tseng said. Cancer prevention measures such as pap smears, breast cancer screening and vaccines should all be combined in one facility to increase the rate of cancer prevention, he said.
Tseng said he had noticed there were no support groups for cervical cancer patients in Taiwan, so he hoped the society could provide a community of support for these women.
Tseng can be reached at 05-3621000 or at cjtseng@cjmh.org.tw.
The Grand Hotel Taipei on Saturday confirmed that its information system had been illegally accessed and expressed its deepest apologies for the concern it has caused its customers, adding that the issue is being investigated by the Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau. The hotel said that on Tuesday last week, it had discovered an external illegal intrusion into its information system. An initial digital forensic investigation confirmed that parts of the system had been accessed, it said, adding that the possibility that some customer data were stolen and leaked could not be ruled out. The actual scope and content of the affected data
DO THEY BITE IT? Cats have better memories than people might think, but their motivation is based entirely around the chance of getting fed Cats can remember the identity of the people who fed them the day before, Taipei-based veterinarians said on Friday, debunking a popular myth that cats have a short memory. If a stray does not recognize the person who fed them the previous day, it is likely because they are not carrying food and the cat has no reason to recognize them, said Wu Chou Animal Hospital head Chen Chen-huan (陳震寰). “When cats come to a human bearing food, it is coming for the food, not the person,” he said. “The food is the key.” Since the cat’s attention is on the food, it
Taiwan must act to preempt potential Section 301 investigations as US President Donald Trump moves to a new tariff strategy, following a US Supreme Court ruling that voided tariff measures, an academic said yesterday. Countries running the largest trade surpluses with the US face a growing likelihood of Section 301 investigations, Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) said. Section 301 refers to a provision of the Trade Act of 1974 that allows Washington to impose retaliatory tariffs over perceived unfair trade practices, including the running of large trade surpluses. Because Taiwan has become the fourth-largest source of the US’ trade
People hold incense and pray with offerings in front of Taipei’s Kuanghwa Market yesterday. The fifth day of the Lunar New Year is traditionally about welcoming the God of Wealth, during which companies and shops set off firecrackers to celebrate their reopening and pray for good business in the new year.
RSS