Diarrhea becomes top illness among immigrants in Thailand

Diarrhea has become the most common illness among some 6,100 foreign laborers in Thailand during the first five months of this year, according to the Ministry of Public Health.

Official observations on health conditions of foreign laborers and their families found that in January-May period, about 2,453 laborers were affected by diarrhoea, 1,256 suffered from malaria and 356 from pneumonia, Acting Permanent Secretary for Public Health Prat Boonyavongvirot was quoted by Thai News Agency as saying Tuesday.

About 62 percent of laborers and their families who fell sick were from Myanmar, followed by Laotians and Cambodians, while 1, 600 children under four years fell sick, the most affected age group.

Some foreign workers also suffered from such infectious diseases as cholera, tetanus, tuberculosis, as well as those caused by sexual intercourse, Prat noted.

Most of the immigrants' ailments were reported in the country's western province of Kanchanaburi, followed by the northwestern province of Tak and the northern province of Chiang Mai.

However, the number of ill immigrants in the kingdom has been on a downward trend from 20,321 in 1997 to 19,615 in the entire 2004.

To prevent any outbreak or spread of infectious diseases among the group, the Ministry of Public Health has asked for cooperation from local employers to support medical check-ups of immigrants at government-run hospitals in their respective areas before hiring them, Prat said.

Source: Xinhua