Costs of Injuries Due to Interpersonal and Self-Directed Violence in Thailand, 2005

Kanitta Bundhamcharoen PhD*, Patarapan Odton MSc*, Suwanna Mugem MSc*, Sirinya Phulkerd MSc*, Kanjana Dhisayathikom MA*, David W Brown**, Viroj Tangcharoensathien MD, PhD**

Affiliation : * International Health Policy Program (IHPP), Thailand ** Decatur, GA, USA

Violence, a serious public health problem in Thailand, remains largely unknown for its economic costs. This study is a national-level economic cost-estimates of injury from interpersonal and self-directed violence for Thailand during 2005 using the World Health Organization-US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s guidelines. Direct medical costs from self-directed violence totaled 569 million Baht (THB) while the cost of interpersonal violence was THB 1.3 billion. Productivity losses for injuries due to self-directed violence were estimated at THB 12.2 billion and those for interpersonal violence were THB 14.4 billion. The total direct medical cost, thus, accounted for about 4% of Thailand’s total health budget while the productivity losses accounted for approximately 0.4% of Thailand’s GDP. In summary, interpersonal and self-directed violence caused a total loss of 33.8 billion baht for Thailand in 2005. More than 90% of the economic loss was incurred from productivity loss and about four-fifths came from men.

Keywords : Violence, Suicide, Economic cost

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