About 6,000 Immigrant Workers In Thailand Have Infectious Diseases

About 6,000 immigrant workers in Thailand have infectious diseases

About 6,000 immigrant workers in Thailand have infectious diseases such as tuberculosis and leprosy or are addicted to drugs and 176 of them have to be sent home.

Watchara Pannachet (วัชระ พรรณเชษฐ์), assistant to the public health minister, said the number of immigrants carrying the diseases causes concerns about possible spread to Thai people.

Mr. Watchara said the Interior Ministry’s 2004 statistics recorded that 1.2 million immigrants, mostly from Myanmar, registered to work in Thailand and half of them, or 600,000, had health insurance.

But there still are about 600,000 alien workers who have not yet been registered, particularly in many border provinces, and the Public Health Ministry has to spend about 200 million baht annually providing them medical services, he said.

Mr. Watchara called on employers to register their immigrant workers with authorities and provide them medical check-ups to help save the government’s medical costs.

Source: Thai National News Bureau Public Relations Department - 6 July 2006