Allergies are a major chronic health issue for Thai people, consequently more than 20 million Thais have some history of allergic respiratory diseases, leading to treatment costs of more than 2 billion baht annually. Allergies are riggered by various kinds of allergens, such as house dust mites, pollens, cat or dog hairs, and cockroaches.

          Allergies can be treated with allergy shots, or subcutaneous immunotherapy, but first patients need to be tested so that allergens can be identified. At present, the diagnostic test kits and allergy shots used in Thailand are imported and are thus expensive. Siriraj Hospital therefore conducted research to develop more affordable products for Thai people.