Health officials are looking to tighten preventive and control measures after finding higher rates of syphilis and gonorrhoea among young people, says Public Health Minister Cholnan Srikaew.
The syphilis infection rate increased from 11 per 100,000 people in 2018 to 18.6 per 100,000 people in 2022, with young people accounting for much of the increase, he said after chairing a recent meeting of the National Communicable Disease Committee.
The congenital syphilis infection rate rose from 25.1 per 100,000 newborn babies to 98.2 per 100,000 during the same period.
Alarmed by the increasing number of infections, the ministry will mount campaigns to work with the private sector and civil groups to provide access to treatment for those infected with syphilis, gonorrhoea and congenital syphilis, he said.
The ministry aims to reduce the infection rate to 1 per 100,000 people by 2030 in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), aiming to end the spread of dangerous sexually transmitted diseases in the next seven years.
The ministry also approved two draft regulations to increase its capacity to control the spread of communicable diseases from foreign visitors. It would include reports on the date, time and location of vehicles arriving at immigration checkpoints by air, land and sea.
Dr Cholnan also said the ministry would continue to focus next year on offering Covid-19 vaccines to the so called “608” risk groups — people aged over 60 and those who have one or more of eight underlying illnesses — to reduce the chance of them becoming seriously ill.
He added that the ministry would also continue to provide advice on the prevention and control of sexually transmitted diseases including monkeypox and HIV/Aids and insect-borne diseases such as dengue fever, the Zika virus and chikungunya.
Authorities are also responding to the increase in whooping cough (pertussis) infections in the three southern border provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat. The ministry will provide more whooping cough vaccines for children aged between 2 months and 7 years, as well as pregnant women.