10m elderly Thais, most of them ill

10m elderly Thais, most of them ill

Nine million elderly thais have a chronic disease

There are nearly 10 million elderly people in Thailand, most have chronic disease and about 200,000 are dependent on others, permanent health secretary Narong Sahametapat said on Wednesday.

On the occasion of International Day of Older Persons, Oct 1, Dr Narong quoted Mahidol University as reporting that were 9.93 million Thai people aged 60 and over this year, and they formed 15% of the total population.

He also said the Department of Health and related agencies surveyed the health of 14,000 old people in 28 provinces and found that only 5% of them had good health.

This indicates that only about 500,000 old people throughout the country are healthy and that more than nine million othershave chronic diseases including diabetes, hypertension, depression and knee osteoarthritis.

About 200,000 old people must depend on others' help. They are bed-ridden and need careers. Besides, about 8%, or 800,000, stay at home alone.

์์Nearly 10 million elderly people live in Thailand, and most have chronic disease. — Thiti Wannamontha

Dr Narong said the Ministry of Public Health would ask other agenciesd like the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security, local administrative organisations and communities to help elderly people live happily withing their families and communities.

The health ministry will install facilities and improve buildings at hospitals to serve the elderly and ensure their safety.

Dr Pornthep Siriwanarangsun, director-general of the Department of Health, said the department would deploy medical personnel to work with local volunteers and relatives to take good care of the elderly at their homes. It will also set up health rehabilitation centres and establish patient referral systems at the sub-district level.

Besides, the department is implementing a pilot project to develop cities to be friendly with the elderly in Pattaya City of Chon Buri province and Nonthaburi municipality in Nonthaburi province.

The project will be implemented from this year to 2016 and include the installation of facilities to serve the elderly such as safety and convenience facilities at hospitals, public places and passenger buses.

There were 841 million people aged 60 years or older worldwide and this was expected to climb to about 1.4 billion in 16 years and place additional burdens on people of working age, Dr Narong said.

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