Today, August 12, Thailand is celebrating the 71st birthday of Her Majesty Queen Sirikit of Thailand and the Minister of Public Health announced that the department was offering 7,200 free heart surgery's to Thai patients to honor of the nation's beloved Queen Sirikit.
The permanent secretary for public health, Dr. Vallop Thaineua, said that the health ministry was organizing 2 different health programs to honor HM the Queen's 72nd birthday next year, namely provision for free heart surgery and provision for free corneal surgery.
Dr. Vallop Thaineua described these free health programs as giving new life to those suffering from these two diseases in Thailand, he further said that the free surgery would be provided across the whole Thai Kingdom, starting in May 2003 until December 2004.
The Thai Ministry's aim is to give free heart surgery to 7,200 patients, both in during normal hospital hours and outside the normal hospital hours, this in order to reduce waiting lists. Heart disease are the number two killer in Thailand, and many Thais die while waiting for the necessary surgery, due to the limited number of heart surgeons in Thailand.
Dr. Vallop said that if this free surgery program ran successfully, then Thais needing heart surgery after December 2004 could be given immediate treatment as the waiting list problem would have been solved.
The special surgery program will target three main groups in Thailand, patients receiving Royal sponsorship, patients with Thai government social security plans, and patients who have been on heart surgery waiting lists for very long time. The heart surgery would be carried out at 18 hospitals across Thailand.
The free cornea surgery program, said Dr. Vallop, would be aimed at 49,000 patients around the country. After the surgery, patients would also be given free glasses to help improve their sight and this in the name of HM Queen Sirikit of Thailand.
The Thai population id being invited to donate money to for those 2 programs via a the Bangkok Bank, the Siam Commercial Bank, the Krung Thai Bank and the Government Savings Bank of Thailand.
