Health Profile - Thailand

Life expectancy is seventy years at birth,

98% & 96% of the population have access to improved drinking water and sanitation
(respectively)

A system providing universal health care for Thai nationals has been established since 2002.
Health and medical care is overseen by the Ministry of Public Health, along with several other
non-ministerial government agencies, with total national expenditure on health amounting to
4.3 percent of GDP in 2009.

HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and other infectious diseases remain serious public health
issues, non-communicable diseases and injuries have also become important causes of
morbidity and mortality i

Population: 67,091,089 (July 2012 est.)

note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to
AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality, higher death rates, lower
population growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would
otherwise be expected

ii

Age structure:

0-14 years: 19.5% (male 6,697,165/female 6,386,840)

15-24 years: 15.1% (male 5,160,079/female 4,958,618)
25-54 years: 45.9% (male 15,185,712/female 15,592,771)
55-64 years: 10.1% (male 3,229,982/female 3,520,447)
65 years and over: 9.5% (male 2,870,445/female 3,489,030) (2012 est.)

THAILAN
D

UK

Gross national income per capita (PPP international $)

8,360

36,010

Life expectancy at birth m/f (years)

71/77

79/82

Probability of dying under five (per 1 000 live births)

13

Probability of dying between 15 and 60 years m/f (per 1 000

population)

207/102

91/57

Total expenditure on health per capita (Intl $, 2011)

353

3,322

Total expenditure on health as % of GDP (2011)

4.1

9.3

iii

Distribution of family income - Gini index: 53.6 (2009) 42 (2002)

GINI index is the ratio of the area between a countrys Lorenz curve and the 45 degree helping line.
0 = perfect equality
100 = perfect inequality
Sweden = 25
Sub Sahran Africa = 50.

MAIN CAUSES OF MORTALITY

stroke is the leading cause of death in Thailand (10.7%), followed by ischemic heart
disease (7.8%) and HIV/AIDS (7.4%). Other leading causes are road traffic accidents
(males) and diabetes mellitus (females). In many cases, estimated mortality is at least
twice what is estimated in vital registration. Leading causes of death have remained
stable since 1999, with the exception of a large decline in HIV/AIDS mortality. iv
CHALLENGES & OPPORTUNITIES
OPPORTUNITIES

CHALLENGES

 high government priority on health

security,
universal health coverage, and healthy
public
policy
strong civil society on health issues
with a wellestablished structure at all
levels
robust health infrastructure
seven national public health agencies
with
complementary strengths
strengthening local government in
response to
the decentralization policy
excellence and expertise in
academic,
governmental and non-governmental
institutions
development of a new National
Health Plan
for 2012-2016
development of the new CCS for
2012-2016
and a new United Nations Partnership
Framework for 2012-16

diverse institutional health system

with many
actors
policy coherence and collaboration
across
sectors
dual burden of noncommunicable
diseases
and communicable diseases
high tuberculosis burden
emerging artemisinin-resistant
malaria
HIV in at-risk populations; HIV drug
resistance
strengthening harm reduction among
drug
users
rising adolescent pregnancy
unsafe abortion
sustaining universal health coverage
& its
quality
road safety
environmental and occupational
health,
including exposure to chrysotile
asbestos
migrant and mobile population health
concerns
rapidly aging society
decentralization

RECCOMENDATIONS FOR THE FUTURE

WHO STRATEGIC AGENDA (2012-2016)
1. Providing technical, financial and managerial support to the
five selected priority programmesthrough a multi-sectoral, multistakeholer approach.
These five areas are:
o Addressing non-communicable diseases
o Road safety

o Community health systems

o International Trade and health
o Emergency preparedness and response

2. Addressing major public health challenges and unfinished

agendas including:
o Building and sustaining core capacities as per the International Health
Regulations
o Building capacity and partnerships for healthy public policy in particular for
migrant and mobile populations
o Programme strengthening to control TB, and HIV (including harm reduction)
o Programme strengthening to control/eliminate malaria (including containment
of artemisinin-resistant malaria),
o Strengthening environmental and occupational health
o Strengthening adolescent health and reducing adolescent pregnancies
o Preventing unsafe abortion
o Increasing the rate of breastfeeding
o Eliminating iodine deficiency disorder

3. Exercising WHOs normative functions

4. Facilitating Thailands engagements in health beyond its
borders

1) Country background: facts on population, demographics, GNI per capita,

statistics on inequality, poverty etc.
2) Major data on health and illness: leading causes of mortality and
morbidity, overall disease burden, health risks, health disparities ( i.e.
indicators, risk factors and social determinants of health).
3) Are there any important differences/ inequalities e.g. rural/urban, gender
or ethnic minority based? etc. What might cause these disparities?
4) What policies are in place in the health arena? Do they address a SDH
agenda? Do they address key risk factors? Do they involve the
public/private sector, community participation? Who are the main health
actors? etc.
5) Evaluation of current policy and recommendations for future action and/or
projections for the future

i Thailand - Country cooperation strategy: At a glance". World Health Organization. May 2010
ii https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2010.html
iii http://apps.who.int/gho/data/view.main
iv Estimated causes of death in Thailand, 2005: implications for health policy Yawarat
Porapakkham May 2010

v http://www.who.int/countryfocus/cooperation_strategy/ccsbrief_tha_en.pdf