President Tsai attends 2018 Taipei International Breast Cancer Symposium
On the morning of September 29, President Tsai Ing-wen attended the 2018 Taipei International Breast Cancer Symposium. She acknowledged medical experts, civil organizations, and many breast cancer survivors for their dedication and contributions to carrying Taiwan's breast cancer prevention and treatment forward.
A transcript of the president's remarks follows:
Let me begin by welcoming our guests from home and abroad to this year's Taipei International Breast Cancer Symposium. As we observe breast cancer awareness month in October, which is just two days away, I want to thank the Breast Cancer Society and everyone involved for putting together this timely event.
Around the world, many precious lives are interrupted or cut short by cancer. In Taiwan, breast cancer is the number one, most prevalent cancer for women. Among all cancers, it has the fourth-highest mortality rate, affects around 10,000 women each year, and is responsible for about 2,000 deaths annually.
Early detection can save lives.
So the Taiwan government subsidizes mammography examinations for women between the ages of 45 and 69 once every two years. For women with a family history of breast cancer, the subsidy is available starting at the age of 40. And our free breast cancer screening is also the first of its kind in Asia.
I also want to take a moment to commend the efforts by medical experts and organizations, including many of you here today. Because of your work, more and more Taiwanese women are aware of the importance of having regular mammograms. Over the past eight years, around 800,000 women have been screened annually, and screening rates have increased from 11% to almost 40%.
Breast cancer is a treatable disease, especially if it is found early. The survival rate for patients in stages zero and one can be greater than 90%. According to our official statistics, amongst breast cancer patients aged between 45 and 69 that had no prior screening, only 57% of them were early-stage patients. But for those detected by mammography, 86% were diagnosed when they were still between stage zero and stage two, on par with the statistics of other advanced countries.
But we all know that our work is not finished, when every 47 minutes a woman in Taiwan is diagnosed with breast cancer. My administration is committed to advancing the research to better prevent, diagnose, and treat this disease. At the same time, we want to invite breast cancer patients to join our decision making process, and help us refine treatment methods. And that is why I am pleased to learn that the theme of this year's symposium is: Caring, Commitment & the Best Treatment for the Patients of Breast Cancer. Seeing so many experts coming from around the world, I have every confidence that this event will reinforce the collaboration we need to safeguard the health of all women. I trust that together, we will explore more treatment methods, ways to make treatments more effective, and improve the quality of life for people fighting breast cancer.
I want to close by acknowledging our medical experts, civil organizations, and many breast cancer survivors. Their dedication and contributions have carried Taiwan's breast cancer prevention and treatment forward. And I am certain that if we all keep pushing forward, we can ensure that more people around the world can enjoy a long, happy, and healthy life.
I wish this symposium every success, and our guests continued health. Thank you.