BANGKOK, 5 October 2013 – At present, 24 provinces are battered by heavy rainfall-triggered flooding, with more than 60,000 people in those provinces have fallen ill.
According to Public Health Minister Dr. Pradit Sintavanarong, 24 provinces in the north and northeast are still in flood crisis, whereas 9 other affected provinces are now recovering from the inundation. He said mobile health units had been sent out to those areas to assist the residents, adding that over 60,000 people have fallen ill or caught a disease during the recent flooding. Forty one percent of the patients are suffering from athlete’s foot and thirty percent have body aches. The ministry also found that 616 out of 38,000 surveyed people are suffering from depression.
Meanwhile, Dr. Narong Sahametapat, Permanent Secretary of the Public Health Ministry revealed that 264,000 sets of medicines were distributed to the flooded areas, while 300,000 more are in store for backup. He went on to assure that Prachantakam Hospital in Prachinburi Province will operate 24 hours a day to help the flood victims.
