Thailand to combat environmental threats to health

BANGKOK, January 14 (TNA) - Thailand is taking proactive approaches against significant health threats which may arise from the changing environment, following the upcoming regional integration of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) set by 2015. Experts who led the first-round discussion at a national health conference on environmental health, held in Bangkok on Monday, cautioned that the ASEAN’s Liberalization in all areas may directly affect environmental standards, leading to more diseases in urban areas which have previously emerged only in rural and border areas, resulting from rural people's migrations to large cities where pollution, wastes and congestion have been on the rise. To prevent and control health issues related to such changes, the experts suggested that relevant agencies in Thailand improve their services in preparation for greater influx of ASEAN citizens and increase cooperation with international healthcare organisations; while healthcare volunteers across Thailand should also be tasked with providing rural residents with information on health impacts caused by the regional integration for the sake of ASEAN citizens living in the harmonious and safe Southeast Asian environment. (TNA)