30-39 age-group urged to get free NHI health checkups

Taipei, Jan. 14 (CNA) The Ministry of Health and Welfare on Tuesday encouraged those aged 30 to 39 to take advantage of recently expanded free National Health Insurance (NHI) checkups.

Health Minister Chiu Tai-yuan (邱泰源) told a news conference in Taipei that early detection of health risks such as hyperglycemia could help young adults change their lifestyles, thus potentially delaying the onset of chronic diseases.

"Chronic diseases account for 60 percent of the causes of death in Taiwan, and a reduction of such illnesses is essential to truly extending our average life expectancy," he said.

Since Jan. 1, the roughly 3.2 million people aged 30-39 enrolled in Taiwan's NHI program can get a free health checkup every five years.

The checkups are also available every three years to those aged 40-64, and annually for those over 65.

Hu Yi-chun (胡怡君), section chief of the Health Promotion Administration's (HPA) Aging and Chronic Disease Control Division, told CNA that the checkups can be done at over 6,000 NHI-contracted institutions nationwide.

Surveys show that the rate of the "three highs" among those aged 30 to 39 was 9.7 percent for high blood pressure, 2.5 percent for high blood sugar, and 18.7 percent for high cholesterol, prompting the expansion to address health risks among that age group, the HPA said in a statement.

Items covered by the free health checkups include blood tests and urine tests, which aim to address six common health risks, including the "three highs" as well as abnormally high levels of uric acid in the blood, according to the HPA.

Those risks could be associated with chronic diseases such as heart disease and kidney disease, the HPA added.