| |
| |
![]() |
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
BANGKOK : Thailand has released its largest ever survey on the state of women and children in the kingdom.
While findings are largely positive, HIV/AIDS awareness remains a critical issue.
Results from a survey of 43,000 Thai households confirm significant improvements in the lives of the country's children.
Data shows that over 90 percent of Thai children have access to safe drinking water and sanitation, preventing a host of communicable diseases.
Other positive indicators include the fact that 98 percent of primary school aged children in the Kingdom attended class while 83 percent of one-year-olds were fully immunised from the six major childhood diseases.
Yet, in spite of this, a few challenges remain.
Thailand has one of the lowest exclusive breastfeeding rates in the world.
This means that babies are not breastfed for their first six months, leading to a lack of nutrition crucial to healthy development.
Tomoo Hozumi, UNICEF Thailand Representative, said, "One of the factors is very aggressive (advertising) and also promotion of breast milk substitutes, infant formula and other products..."
Thailand also lags behind other nations in iodised salt consumption, critical to childrens' mental growth and development.
Severe iodine deficiency can lead to mental retardation.
Authorities have said making the addition of iodine mandatory in the manufacturing process would be a highly effective way to tackle the problem.
In addition to nutritional concerns, the report highlights the need for stepped up public education on HIV/AIDS.
More than half the women could not identify at least two ways HIV was transmitted and believed common misconceptions regarding the disease.
Scott Bamber, Project Officer, HIV/AIDS, UNICEF Thailand, said, "When you ask them about specific issues, they frequently they come short of the answer...for example, if you ask them, they know that HIV/AIDS is not transmitted by mosquito bites, but if you ask, say, if it's transmitted by children playing together in the schoolyard, they're not sure."
Women and children living in the northern and border provinces are especially vulnerable.
This is because many factors such as cross-border migration, poverty and poor health care, have contributed to the region being the epicentre of the disease in the kingdom. - CNA/ms
|
