The leading cause of early death among men and women in Thailand is excessive alcohol intake and obesity, Professor Dr Veerasak Jongsuwiwatwong , director of Research and Development Health of Southern Institute, announced last week.
The doctor presented the results of his study at the Thai Health Promotion Foundation seminar dubbed as “Diseases and health burdens on Thai population”.
According to him, thousands of Thais have died prematurely over the past few years. His study aimed to determine and develop the indicators that can estimate the factors affecting Thai population – specifically disease and health burden.
The study is conducted every five years by a team of researchers from the International Health Policy Program Thailand, with the support of the Thai Health Promotion Foundation.
In 2009, the study showed that out of the 430,583 reported deaths, approximately 35,000 were from coronary disease and 50,000 from chronic diseases due to alcohol and smoking.
For men, the results showed that drinking alcohol is the primary cause of early deaths. Smoking comes in second, followed by high blood pressure, motorcycle accidents with no helmet, and lastly, high cholesterol.
For women, the leading cause of premature deaths is obesity then high blood pressure. This is followed by unsafe sex, high cholesterol, and smoking.
The study also showed that the highest cause of deaths for men between 15 years old and 29 years old are violence, HIV infection and road accidents. For women of the same age bracket, suicide, HIV infection, unsafe sex and road accidents were the primary cause of deaths.
Between 30 years old to 59 years old, road accidents and unsafe sex are the leading causes of death for men and women, respectively. Chronic diseases are the primary cause of death for the population over 60 years of age
According to Professor Dr Veerasak, the study should be able to help the government in preventing premature deaths. Consumption of unhealthy food, alcohol and cigarette consumption among Thai people should be curbed.
He added that the government should also implement traffic and transportation laws strictly to prevent road accidents and provide better pathways were people can exercise for a better health, the Nation reported.
