Dear All APHEN members,
Since Thailand is one of countries which has been
trying to improve its health system and its attempt may
be useful for both developed and developing countries,
on behalf of Asia-Pacific Health Economics Network, I would
like to share with you, lessons, experiences of Thailand.
In due course of time, I would like to invite more
contribution from other countries to share the experiences
so that we can benefit from the globalisation to make this
planet a more sharing and caring one.
The process of health system reform in Thailand began
in various ways since 1990, or even before. It became more
activated after the crisis and when the current government
party came into office. The reform still evolves and will
continue in the future with a desire toward a health system
that is more equitable, efficient, accountable and with
better quality.
At present the reform has not yet achived all designed
objectives. The process of reform will continuously go on
with further adjustment and improvement based on accumulated
knowledge and experiences through learning-by-doing,
various feedbacks, criticisms and participation of both public
and private stakeholders.
I think some of you may be interested to know what we have
done, why, how, what the immediate and intermediate results
are, and what the future plan is. I listed below some of the
useful websites from which you can find more details of the
Thai health system, related policy issues and
research, and many more.
Unfortunately, not all information and websites
are in English. However, some of them have some parts in
English which you may immediately understand. I hope, with
appropriate support, we can make some translation or to
provide a summary of the situation just like what we initially
did for an introduction of the universal coverage policy on
APHEN website (www.unescap.org/aphen).
Here, I also provide the website of the National
Planning Commission (NESDB) in case you are interested in
the broader picture of Thailand but related to issues in
heatlh sector.
Some useful websites on Thai Health System:
www.moph.go.th (website of the Ministry of Public Health)
www.uc.moph.go.th (website of Universal Coverage Policy)
www.eng.moph.go.th (English version of MOPH website)
www.moph.go.th/ops/hcrp (website for health care reform project)
www.moph.go.th/fda.net/html (Thai FDA website)
www.hsro.or.th (website of Health System Reform Office)
www.hsri.or.th (website of Health System Research Institute)
www.nesdb.go.th (National Economic and Social Development Board)
www.tmc.or.th (Thai Medical Council)
Most Thai Ministries now developed their own website as it is the
present Thai government policy develop E-Ministry. Some inforamtion may be
in Thai. Still I do hope you may find some information in ENglish that can
be useful. I will try to keep updating the information about the useful
websites.
I hope you can find some of the information interesting and
useful. Please let me know if you have any questions
concerning specific issues and information about the Thai
health system, I as a coordinator of Asia-Pacific Health
Economics Network (APHEN), will try to assist you further to
link you with relevant persons or sources where you can get
necessary information.
Kaemthong Indaratna
APHEN Principal Co-ordinator
