14.05.2024
Thailand: 10 Million Sought Treatment For Pollution-Related Illnesses In 2023
More than 10 million Thais sought treatment for illnesses linked to air pollution in 2023, authorities said. The data from the National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC) come as Thailand's air quality is worsening. Widespread farm burning and forest fires, notably in the country's north, often create a noxious smog at the beginning of the year. From 1.3 million in the first nine weeks of 2023, the number of people seeking treatment for pollution-related illnesses increased to 1.6 million at the start of 2024, AFP reported. Thailand has a population of about 72 million. The cases include those with chronic conditions such as lung cancer, bronchitis, asthma, and heart diseases. Thailand's air pollution is a problem during the dry season - which typically runs from November to March - mainly due to seasonal burning from farmers clearing their sugarcane and rice fields. Over the years, residents and environmental groups in Thailand have also filed lawsuits to demand government action against pollution. Last July, about 1,700 people in Chiang Mai brought a case against former Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and two state agencies for failing to exercise their authority to reduce pollution in the north, which they say was shortening each of their lives by about five years. Credit: WION
Poverty deprives people of adequate education, health care and of life's most basic necessities- safe living conditions (including clean air and clean drinking water) and an adequate food supply. The developed (industrialized) countries today account for roughly 20 percent of the world's population but control about 80 percent of the world's wealth.
Poverty and pollution seem to operate in a vicious cycle that, so far, has been hard to break. Even in the developed nations, the gap between the rich and the poor is evident in their respective social and environmental conditions.
Poverty and pollution seem to operate in a vicious cycle that, so far, has been hard to break. Even in the developed nations, the gap between the rich and the poor is evident in their respective social and environmental conditions.
