Health Ministry redoubles effort to reduce disease outbreaks
Covid-19 and influenza are among the communicable diseases likely to become outbreaks next year, according to the Public Health Ministry.
Insect-borne diseases also considered likely to become outbreaks are dengue fever, Zika and Chikungunya.
The ministry confirmed that it has prepared measures to deal with these diseases, such as campaigns aimed at convince people at risk of Covid-19 to receive their jab annually, administering influenza vaccines to children aged six months to five years and organising activities to eliminate mosquito breeding sites.
Meanwhile, diseases under the ministry’s surveillance include mpox (formerly named “monkeypox”), Aids, measles, pertussis and sexually transmitted diseases.
Public Health Ministry has approved a plan to contain the spread of sexually transmitted diseases due to the syphilis infection rate increasing from 11 per 100,000 people in 2018 to 18.6 last year.
“The number of youths suffered from syphilis and gonorrhea has also increased,” said Public Health Minister Cholnan Srikaew.
“Meanwhile, the congenital [at birth] syphilis infection rate has increased from 25.1 per 100,000 newborns to 98.2.”
To address this issue, the ministry will ensure that all people are able to access effective treatment for sexually transmitted diseases without discrimination.
“Partners including the government and private sectors, along with civil society, are involved in providing treatment for sexually transmitted diseases based on patients’ rights and gender sensitivity,” Cholnan said.
Also, the ministry will implement measures to contain the spread of syphilis, gonorrhea and congenital syphilis, focusing on developing service platform and creating cooperation between related agencies.
This move is in line with the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations to end the epidemics of Aids, tuberculosis, malaria and neglected tropical diseases, as well as combat hepatitis, water-borne diseases and other communicable diseases by 2030.
The Public Health Ministry has also approved two draft ministerial regulations to boost the efficiency of containing the spread of communicable diseases from other countries, covering land, water and air.
