Sliding birth rate tackled

Authorities are mobilising cross-sector cooperation to address Thailand’s collapsing birth rate, now the lowest in 75 years, with the goal of ensuring that every pregnancy is safe, voluntary and fully supported.

- APINYA WIPATAYOTIN

Department of Health director-general Dr Amporn Benjapolpitak said ata press conference yesterday titled “Every Birth Matters... When the Silent Countdown Begins” that Thailand is facing a severe demographic crisis driven by a sharp decline in births.

The trend, she warned, poses long-term risks to the country’s economic growth, social structure, labour force, welfare system and public health.