New report on the ‘Gold Card’ scheme reveals chronic conditions dominate Thai healthcare, with over 176 million annual visits and high rates of infectious gut diseases.

New data from Thailand’s flagship universal healthcare system, the ‘Gold Card’ scheme, shows that high blood pressure remains the most common reason for citizens accessing outpatient care, highlighting a critical national challenge in managing chronic conditions.

The report, compiled by the National Health Security Office (NHSO) for Fiscal Year (FY) 2024, tracks health usage across the country and indicates that the scheme plays a crucial role in providing equitable care.

During FY 2024, citizens made over 176.5 million outpatient (OPD) visits, averaging 3.75 visits per person.

The statistics for the over 176.5 million outpatient visits clearly indicate that the primary public health burden is managing Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) and chronic conditions.

The top three conditions are all directly linked to lifestyle and long-term care management:

• Hypertension (High Blood Pressure): By far the most common, accounting for 23.05 million visits.
• Diabetes (Type 2): The second-highest chronic condition at 12.87 million visits.
• Dyslipidemia (High Cholesterol): Ranked third among NCDs with 12.25 million visits.

The high prevalence of these conditions underscores the importance of the Gold Card scheme in providing continuous, affordable primary care to prevent these diseases from escalating into severe, costly inpatient events like strokes or heart failure.