Citizens aged 30 and over are to be eligible for free health checkups every five years starting this year, the Health Promotion Administration (HPA) announced today.
The latest adjustments to adult preventative healthcare services are to lower the minimum age for free health checkups from 40 to 30, which would benefit an estimated 3.2 million people between 30 and 40.
Photo: Chiu Chih-jou, Taipei Times
Those aged 40 to 65 are to continue to be eligible for one free health checkup every three years, while those over 65 are already eligible for yearly checkups, also offered to indigenous people over 55 and polio patients aged 35 and over, HPA Director-General Wu Chao-chun (吳昭軍) said.
The payment for each checkup has also been increased from NT$520 to NT$880 to enable healthcare providers to expand services, he said.
The latest Nutrition and Health Survey in Taiwan, conducted from 2019 to 2023, showed that 9.7 percent of 30–39-year-olds suffer from high blood pressure, 2.5 percent from high blood sugar and 18.7 percent from high blood cholesterol, the chief physician of the HPA’s Aging and Chronic Disease Control Division Hu I-chun (胡怡君).
Treatment of conditions related to the “three highs” — high blood pressure, blood sugar and blood cholesterol levels — currently cost NT$167.6 billion (US$5 billion) per year, she added.
The checkups would help patients who appear healthy to spot abnormalities early and begin preventative treatment before the onset of chronic disease, as well as enable young people to get a better understanding of their health and get into the habit of regular checkups, she said.
Currently, adult preventative health services include health behavior surveys, physical exams, blood tests, urine tests and health education consultations to address common health problems such as the “three highs,” kidney function, liver function and body mass index (BMI), the HPA said.
From this year, services are to be upgraded to offer uric acid tests, chronic disease risk assessments, kidney disease testing and educational information related to a balanced diet and getting 150 minutes of exercise per week, it said.
High uric acid is closely related to diabetes, high blood pressure and kidney disease, and affects 21.9 percent of men and 9.8 percent of women aged over 19 in Taiwan, Hu said.
Identifying high uric acid in health checkups would allow patients to identify the risks early and implement dietary adjustments, regular exercise routines and weight management to prevent the onset of chronic disease, he added.
The decision to offer free health checkups to patients as young as 30 is a huge breakthrough which would not help young people take their health more seriously and also establish a baseline for health data tracking and allow patients to live longer and happier lives, said Huang Chi-chia (黃啟嘉), a managing director of the Taiwan Medical Association.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and