The Ministry of Public Health has developed an application to monitor the health of residents in tambon Na Phra Lan, in Saraburi's Chalerm Prakiat district, due to growing concerns over air pollution from the area's limestone mines and concrete factories.
The chairman of the ministry's Intelligence Unit, Rungruang Kitpati, said the ministry is aware of the impact of particulate matter pollution on residents' health in the area, which has been designated a pollution control zone since 2004.
By law, local authorities in a pollution control zone must disclose all pollution-related data so residents can better protect their health. The availability of such information also helps inform the government's next steps.
However, this information, some of which still has to be manually collected, is often recorded on paper. As a result, it takes time for anyone who wants to use the data to access and find the relevant information.
"Local health authorities are working with the ministry to develop a web-based application to digitise our database, including patients' medical history. It will help us figure out which individuals are at a high risk of developing pollution-related diseases," he said.
The area's residents will be sub-categorised into three groups, depending on their risk factor, which will help health workers direct their resources to those who need it the most, he said.
He said that the application will be linked with the ministry's general patients' database, before noting the application can be used as a model in other areas with severe pollution.
