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343255
Wed, 10/01/2014 - 14:55
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Thailand's elderly people reach nearly 10 million in 2014

BANGKOK, October 1 (TNA) - The Ministry of Public Health reports that the number of Thailand's elderly people, aged at least 60 years old, has reached 9.93 million this year, accounting for 15 per cent of the country's total population. Permanent Secretary for Public Health Dr. Narong Sahametapat told journalists on Wednesday that a latest survey found that only 5 per cent of the Thai elderly, or about 500,000, remained healthy, while the rest over 9 million were suffering from chronic diseases, namely depression, knee osteoarthritis, hypertension and diabetes, about 200,000 of them were unable to take care of themselves and about 800,000 were home alone. Dr. Narong said the Ministry of Public Health plans to open geriatric clinics and install special facilities for the elderly at hospitals. According to the senior official, the global population of people aged 60 and over stood at 841 million people last year and is expected to reach 1.4 billion within 16 years. Dr. Pornthep Siriwanarangsan, Director-General of the ministry's Department of Health, acknowledged, meanwhile, that concerned authorities are introducing facilities and activities for the elderly in Pattaya City and the Nonthaburi Municipality, selected as the venues of a pilot project to build communities where the elderly live happily. (TNA)

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