NTUH Doctors to Treat Type-C Hepatitis Patients Away from Clinics|台大醫雲林分院"外展門診" 助偏鄉治C肝

More than 13,000 people die of liver diseases every year in Taiwan. The most common types of diseases are Type B and Type C Hepatitis. According to the latest statistics, in Yunlin and Chiayi County, were the largest numbers of Type C Hepatitis patients are found, only 30 percent have taken medication. Since yesterday, the doctors and physicians from the Yunlin Branch of National Taiwan University Hospital spent half a day per week outside the clinics to treat Type C Hepatitis for local public with difficulty commuting.

The current regulation allows all those over the age of 45 to check for type C Hepatitis.

The puppetry theatre play has integrated educational content for hepatitis. The man who controls the puppet is 68-year old Huang Wen-lang, the head of Wu Chou Puppetry. Six years ago, he himself was diagnosed with type C Hepatitis after severe fever. The initial treatment with interferons failed and Huang suffered from cirrhosis. Last year, he began taking a new type of drug and the amount of virus in his system dropped to zero after 12 weeks. Now he only needs to visit the hospital once in a while to ensure the condition remains stable.

We have adopted the play and have taken advantage of a well-known protagonist to promote the knowledge related to liver diseases. It's very meaningful.

Doctors said that type-C hepatitis patients have a good chance of recovery if they receive the right treatment. However, according to the latest statistics from the Liver Disease Prevention and Treatment Research Foundation, in Yunlin and Chiayi County, where the largest numbers of Type C Hepatitis patients are found, only 30 percent have taken medication, whereas the remaining 70 percent did not receive any treatment. The doctors and physicians from the Yunlin Branch of National Taiwan University Hospital spend half a day per week outside of their clinics to treat Type C Hepatitis for local public with difficulty commuting.

A lot of type-C hepatitis patients think that they don't need treatment because their symptoms are not severe. We need to enhance education on the matter.