PUBLISHED: 28 Sep 2024 at 06: 10
According to Minister Somsak Thepsutin, the Public Health Ministry wants to provide tax incentives to individuals to help combat non-communicable diseases (NCDs ).
He stated that the goal is to promote NCD prevention because it is always preferable to research treatment as a form of therapy. The agency’s records show that about 400, 000 people die each year from NCDs in Thailand.
He argued that” we may aggressively campaign to educate people about how to avoid NCDs.”
NCDs are also referred to as serious diseases, including cancer, vascular diseases like heart attacks and strokes, diabetes, and chronic respiratory conditions like asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
According to the WHO, tobacco use, physical inactivity, unhealthy eating habits, toxic food, and air pollutants all increase the risk of NCD death.
One million village health volunteers will be used by the government to promote NCD prevention, according to Mr. Somsak, who outlined plans to use one million community health volunteers nationwide to promote a diet known as the” Eat sensibly and not get sick” plan.
If the number of people with NCDs may be reduced, it may help reduce the president’s health charges, such as those incurred from medicines, for about 130 billion ringgit a month, as well as other indirect costs of 1.5 trillion ringgit a year, he said.
In total, expenses related to the NCDs are estimated at 1.6 trillion baht, he noted.
According to Mr. Somsak, village health volunteers should be compensated if costs can be reduced in accordance with the most recent discussion with the National Health Security Office. The ministry will consult with experts to determine whether the suggestion can be put to use.
There must be both positive and negative aspects in order to reduce illness and deaths brought on by NCDs. One way to encourage our health volunteers is to offer tax incentives, while another is to encourage those who take good care of their health. The issue will be considered at our meeting on Monday”, he said.
To promote best practices for preventing their development, the Department of Disease Control has been collecting ideas for the draft of the nation’s first-ever NCD bill.
Initial, a tax intensive will likely be offered to food manufacturers who have successfully reduced the amount of salt or sugar in their products, which are among the causes of NCDs. Tax incentives for individuals are a new concept that also needs to be discussed, he continued.