The Public Health Ministry will send a team to conduct medical check-ups on people living around a gold mine next week.
The ministry will assign medics to carry out the health checks on residents in Phichit, Phetchabun and Phitsanulok, said health deputy minister Somsak Chunharas. The mine is run by Akara Resources, but operations are currently suspended over health fears.
The check-ups will be used to determine risks to the villagers, alongside results from blood tests conducted by the Central Institute of Forensic Science (CIFS), he said.
The move comes after a private meeting of health executives yesterday to discuss how to address villagers’ health conditions. The meeting was chaired by Dr Somsak.
Last month, Khunying Porntip Rojanasunan, CIFS director-general, announced that blood samples from 401 out of 731 villagers contained high levels of heavy metals including arsenic and manganese.
Dr Somsak said the 401 villagers with worrying blood test results would be the first to undergo the check-ups and be interviewed to ascertain their medical history.
“We will analyse all the information to determine risk factors related to the high level of heavy metals in their blood,” he said.
The medical team will visit the villagers on Thursday and Friday. The analysis of the risk factors should come out by the end of March.
Dr Somsak said the ministry will also collect samples of water and plants to find out more about the heavy metal poisoning and educate villagers over possible contamination of their water and food sources.
The results of the analysis will be used in plans to address the health of some 6,000 people living around the mine.
"We will conduct medical check-ups and blood tests intermittently. However, it may be difficult to conduct blood tests for everyone because it’s costly — a lab test for a blood sample costs around 1,000 baht," he said.
Dr Somsak said villagers with ailments should receive treatment without having to prove the cause of their illness.
The gold mine operator has denied its operations caused the contamination of the villagers' blood.
The Industry Ministry issued another order yesterday to further suspend operations at the mine for another 45 days, since Akara Resources could not prove it does not pose a health threat. A previous 30-day suspension expired on Thursday.