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ThaiHealth 2007
"The Scent of Lamduan Flower" Preparing an Aging Society

14 Health Indicators
10 Health Issues


The 2007 issues of the Thai Health Report, like the previous three, takes a broad, multi-faceted view of health. The flower on the cover, lamduan, is the official symbol of elderly people in Thailand, and elderly people are this year's special topic. The reason for focusing the elderly is not, as some might guess, because the new government is composed mainly of elderly people. Instead, it reflects current trends in the Thai population. Thailand is slowly becoming an aging society. The proportion of the population aged 60 or over was 5.5% in 1980, 7.4% in 1990, and 9.5% in 2000.

The ten important health issues considered in the report include, for the third time now, conflict in the South. This conflict continues to affect the lives of people in the South and throughout Thailand. It is intractable and complex. Many different strategies for resolving the conflict have been tried and have failed. Violence in the southern border provinces features in the news every day, and even appears to be worsening. We can only hope that the various parties to the conflict will soon cooperate to find a solution.

A complete list of the 14 indicators is: (1) dementia: an Epidemic on the horizon; (2) occupational health; (3) mental illness; (4) happiness; (5) risk factors for cardiovascular disease; (6) risk from secondhand smoke; (7) hazardous waste; (8) food supplements (9) consumer protection; (10) income, savings, and debt; (11) the suffi ciency economy; (12) Thai young people gambling to get rich quick (13) Thai young people in the cyber age. (14) educational inequalities.

Prepared by    Institute for Population and Social Research , Mahidol University
Supported by    Thai Health Promotion Foundation
(Health Information System Development Programme)

Contents

Introduction
  Introduction in ThaiHealth 2007
14 Health Indicators
  Dementia: An Epidemic on the horizon
  Occupational health
  Mental illness
  Happiness
  Risk factors for cardiovascular disease
  Risks from secondhand smoke
  Hazardous waste
  Food supplements
  Consumer protection
  Income, Savings, and Debt
  The sufficiency economy
  Thai young people gambling to get rich quick
  Thai young people in the cyber age
  Educational inequalities
10 Health Issues
  Should the Government Keep the Two- and Three-Digit Lotteries?
  From Chat Room to Video Clips and Camfrog: Getting to Know Online Life
  The "Facts about Medicine" Announcement: The Conflict between the Rights of Doctors and the Rights of Patients
  Thai Children and Danger from Sex: More Protection Needed
  Repeated Flooding: A Worsening Natural Disaster
  The Fire in the South Continues after the Coup
  Thai Students and Violence in Schools
  The National Health Act: From Concept to Implementation
  Banning Alcohol Advertising: A Long Way to Go
  Compulsory Licensing of Three Drugs: Thai People's Right to Life is More Important than Profits
4 Notetable Thai Contributions to the Health of Thais
  (1.) Innovative Wheelchairs for Disabled and Elderly People (2.) Progress in Protecting Thais from Bird Flu (3.) Work to Develop a Vaccine for Dengue Fever is Almost Finished (4.) Thai Students Win an International Competition to Build a "Independent" Robot
Special Topic
  The Scent of the Lamduan Flower:Preparing for an Aging Society
Appendixes
  References , The Process of Writing of the Thai Health Report 2007 , Name of Experts , Name of Steering Committee Members , Name of the Thai Health Report Team