Taiwan plans to expand free hepatitis screening program

Taipei, April 12 (CNA) Taiwan plans to expand the eligibility of its existing free hepatitis B and C screening program to cover people aged 40-79, a health official said on Saturday.

The plan would be to roll out this new measure starting in July, Health Promotion Administration (HPA) Director-General Wu Chao-chun (吳昭軍) told reporters via telephone.

Currently, the HPA offers one free lifetime hepatitis B and C screening to anyone aged 45-79 covered under the National Health Insurance program, while the eligibility for Indigenous Taiwanese is already from 40-79 years old.

The government has set the goal of eliminating hepatitis C by the end of 2025, five years sooner than the World Health Organization's (WHO) target deadline of eradicating the disease by 2030.

Wu said Taiwan has made remarkable progress toward the impact targets set by the WHO for hepatitis C elimination.

However, more effort is still needed in the area of hepatitis B, he added.

Since 1986, the country has launched a universal hepatitis B vaccination program where each newborn was inoculated against the virus beginning that year.

People born before 1986 are considered high-risk groups, and therefore it is essential to identify individuals with liver disease as early as possible, the HPA official said.

With the eligibility lowered to 40 years old, Wu said more than a million additional people are expected to benefit from the government's free hepatitis screening program.

In Taiwan, liver disease is often referred to as a "national ailment," with hepatitis C being a major killer both in the progression of liver disease and in extrahepatic complications.