Health
Thailand’s Nationwide Hospital Networks Meet to Raise Awareness of Heart Disease
CHIANG RAI – The Director General of the Department of Medical Services (DMS) has chaired an academic forum and concluded the outcomes of the Heart Disease Crisis Project.
Citing the statistics of the World Health Organization (WHO), it is known that in the study period, coronary vessel disease caused the deaths of 7.2 million people or 12.2 percent of all deaths. During 2005-2009, about 450 Thai people a day were diagnosed as suffering arteriosclerotic disease, while heart disease took the lives of two persons per hour. Alarmingly, Thailand has a death rate from acute myocardial infarction 4-6 times higher than other countries.
With the aim of decreasing the death rate from coronary vessel disease to 23 per 100,000 people, and allowing patients with acute myocardial infarction, to access anticoagulant drugs exceeding 50 percent this year and over 70 percent by 2017, the Central Chest Institute of Thailand under the DMS, puts effort into enhancing the competency of medical staff in hospitals to diagnose and treat the patients efficiently, as well as to transfer patients to hospital promptly, and lessen the time lost before treatment begins. – NNT