The Public Healthy Ministry has launched a publicity campaign aimed at getting Thais to eat less salt.
Lest you think this campaign a frivolous expenditure of the Ministry’s time, pay heed to the following, chilling statistics:
Eight million Thais suffer from kidney disease brought on by over-consumption of sodium. Forty thousand of these patients have kidney disease so acute that they need kidney transplants, however, owing both to the exorbitant cost and the lack of available donors, only about 400 people will actually get these transplants.
In order to help scale back some of these numbers, the Ministry is invoking Thais to watch their intake of sodium. Many Thais get their strongest dose of sodium through seasonings, which they often fail to associate with their heavy salt content.
The Nation reports that the Public Health Ministry’s “March 14 World Kidney Day” campaign will culminate (oddly) on March 17 with a rally at Central World.
