HEALTH
APIRADEE TREERUTKUARKUL
Listening to an iPod or other MP3 digital music player through earbuds for too long could lead to serious hearing problems, doctors warn. A recent study on the listening behaviour of Thai youngsters found they tended to stay tuned to loud music from these players for too long at one time.
Continuous exposure to music at more than a 90-decibel level for long periods can even cause deafness, said Wachara Riewpaiboon, manager of the health promotion plan for the disabled at the Thai Health Promotion Foundation.
A team of researchers has now started a deeper three-year study on the subject.
The findings will be used by experts to draw up regulations to deal with the devices which could pose a health hazard and raise public awareness about the seriousness of the problem.
The Health Systems Research Institute (HSRI) said at the same forum that at least 35 people are disabled and 350 injured in road accidents averaging 300 cases a day.
Each year the damage caused by road accidents alone is over 26 billion baht, said Kittinan Anakmanee, the HSRI deputy director.
About 1.9 million people are living with disabilities in the country today, according to the National Statistics Bureau. Of the total, 1.2 million of them were unemployed. The rest either worked as labourers in the agricultural or the handicraft sectors.
Vichai Chokewiwat, the Thai Health Promotion Foundation's deputy board chairman, said a limited welfare system is making their lives even more difficult. Most of the disabled people could not afford the health care services either, he said.
Dr Vichai suggested the government collect special taxes from products which can be hazardous to health and are capable of causing disabilities such as liquor, automobiles and motorbikes to support the disabled population's welfare system.
Tax collection for such a purpose was allowable under the law, he said.
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