High blood pressure was the top medical condition among universal healthcare service outpatients in 2023, according to Thailand's National Health Security Office (NHSO).
NHSO secretary-general Dr Jadet Thammathataree said on Sunday that in the fiscal year 2023, a budget of 99.7 billion baht was allocated to care for 47.727 million eligible Thais, which equated to 3,385.98 baht per head.
Of this sum, the outpatient service budget was 1,344.40 baht and the inpatient budget was 1,477.01 baht per capita.
The universal healthcare scheme, otherwise known as the gold card scheme, was used 170.39 million times by outpatients in 2023 — a rate of 3.63 times per person per year, and up from 2.45 times per person per year in 2003 when the scheme was launched.
Dr Jadet said the top 10 sicknesses among outpatients that used the gold card service were high blood pressure, followed by non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, lipoprotein metabolism disorders and other blood lipid conditions, flu, chronic renal failure, other soft tissue disorders, tooth decay, indigestion, other muscle disorders, and gingivitis and periodontitis.
As for inpatient services, the universal healthcare scheme served 6.09 million visits, rising from 4.30 million in 2003.
The top sicknesses treated were gastritis and enteritis, followed by pneumonia, chronic kidney failure, other chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases, heart failure, thalassemia, cerebral infarction, non-insulin-dependent diabetes and urinary system disorders.
“This data reflects people's access to comprehensive and widespread treatment, which reduces financial burdens.
"Furthermore, it is crucial public health information and empirical data that can be used in healthcare promotion and disease prevention campaigns to lessen illnesses in the future,” said Dr Jadet.