Thailand to become aging society by 2021

BANGKOK, January 16 (TNA) - The Ministry of Public Health says that Thailand currently has the most elderly population in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Kingdom will, thus, fully become an aging society by 2021. Dr. Jessada Chokedamrongsuk, Director-General of the ministry's Department of Health, acknowledged that the worldwide number of the elderly has kept growing and the world is becoming an aging society, as people aged 65 years old and over now account for more than 7 per cent of the world population. Dr. Jessada quoted the Institute for Population and Social Research of Bangkok-based Mahidol University as reporting last year that the world population had reached 7.06 billion and people aged 65 and over had numbered 565 million, accounting for some 8 per cent of the total world population. In Thailand, Dr. Jessada noted, the elderly aged 65 and over have formed 12.59 per cent of the total population, the percentage of which is the highest in the 10-member ASEAN bloc, with the country's birth rate having been declining and Thai people having live longer. According to the senior health official, Thailand is expected to fully turn to be an aging society by 2021 and to become a full-scaled aging society with citizens aged 65 and over accounting for 20 per cent of the total population within 20 years, prompting his Department of Health to have promoted the health of two main groups of the local elderly. For those who are healthy, the official elaborated, his department is promoting the prevention or delay of their illnesses, but for those who are ill, his department is supporting to enable them to cure themselves and relieve their illnesses or disabilities. (TNA)