Thailand Closely Watches Cross-Border Diseases

BANGKOK, Feb 21 (Bernama) -- The Thai Ministry of Public Health has closely watched on and launched strict measures against communicable diseases in areas bordering Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar -- after several migrant workers from the three neighbouring countries were confirmed to have fallen victims of three deadly cross-border diseases, including acute diarrhea, malaria and measles, Thai News Agency (TNA) reported.

Thai Deputy Public Health Minister Phansiri Kullanartsiri said on Monday that all Thai public health offices in areas bordering the three neighbouring countries have been ordered to remain vigilant against the cross-border communicable diseases, particularly acute diarrhea carried by the migrant workers, namely those working in local fishing businesses; while local employers are also legally required to provide medical check-ups for their migrant workers at hospitals under the supervision of the Thai Public Health Ministry in their respective areas.

The Thai deputy public health minister acknowledged, quoting official figures disseminated by the Thai Ministry of Labour's Office of Foreign Workers Administration, that the number of migrant workers in Thailand had reached over one million as of March 2010, most of them crossed the border onto the Thai soil illegally without medical check-ups required by the Thai Ministry of Public Health; while the Bureau of Epidemiology reported that more than 10,000 of the migrant workers in Thailand were infected with acute diarrhea, malaria and measles over the past year.

Meanwhile, Department of Disease Control Director-General Doctor Manit Theeratantikanont said that there were some 7,000 confirmed cases of acute diarrhea in areas along the Thai-Myanmar border in 2009, or 300-800 case a day on average, and some 2,361 cases in areas along the Thai-Lao-Cambodian border from January 2009-May 2010.

Doctor Manit also revealed that there were 100-500 confirmed cases of malaria in areas along the Thai-Myanmar border from January 2009-April 2010; whereas malaria patients in Thailand's 73 provinces totaled 24,906 last year.

-- BERNAMA