BANGKOK, 16 September 2015 – The National Health Security Office (NHSO) has approved guidelines for the care of bedridden elderly persons nationwide which will be implemented in 1,000 sub-districts in fiscal year 2016.
Minister of Public Health Piyasakon Sakonsatayatorn, as chairman of the NHSO board, revealed on Tuesday that the Cabinet had approved a 600 million baht budget on top of the per-head allowance for dependent elderly persons. The NHSO will be using the budget to improve healthcare for some 100,000 bedridden elderly persons, a figure which is expected to increase to 1 million within three years.
Dr. Piyasakon said 100 million baht of the 600 million baht budget will be used by primary care centers and the remaining 500 million baht will be used by the health security funds of municipalities and large sub-district organizations, at a rate of 5,000 baht per dependent elderly person per year. The budget will allow bedridden persons in the pilot areas to receive medical screening, house visits by medical personnel, health promotion service, physical rehabilitation and medical equipment.
