Health reforms needed to address demand from the elderly poor

”Thailand can consider reforms now to help achieve wide coverage of its social security, health and long-term care systems, with adequate financial protection for the elderly, while ensuring that public spending remains sustainable,” said Ulrich Zachau, World Bank Country Director for Southeast Asia. "We all have elderly family members or friends who need care. It is important to provide access to basic healthcare services for the elderly, and to implement effective measures to help the elderly take advantage of basic health care, especially in remote rural areas.”

In 2015, over 10 per cent of the Thai population, or more than 7 million people, were 65 years old or older. By 2040, a projected 17 million Thais above 65 years of age will account for more than a quarter of the population. Together with China, Thailand already has the highest share of elderly people of any developing country in East Asia and Pacific, and it is expected to have the highest elderly share by 2040.

According to the report, the lack of public and affordable transportation is the most important barrier to accessing health services among older people in rural areas, especially for those who do not live nearby major highways and roads on which public buses operate. Increasingly, older rural people who are poor and live on monthly social pension allowances alone are the most vulnerable, without money to pay for travel to health facilities when they are sick, or food and accommodation near often distant hospitals.