Project News

The first National Conference of LTOP was held on May 15th 2013, at the Miracle Grande Convention Hotel, Bangkok. The Conference was jointly organized by Ministry of Public Health, Ministry of Social Development and Human Security and JICA. There were about 300 participants attended from LTOP Project, MOPH, MSDHS and local authorities from six pilot sites – Chiang Rai, Khon Kaen, Nakhon Ratchasima, Nonthaburi, Bangkok, and Surat Thani.

The main aims of the Conference were; to disseminate the concept of the LTOP Project to key stakeholders throughout the country, to share information about six pilot sites and raise awareness on aging society and care of the elderly to public, to facilitate collaboration on the aging issue among related organizations and to prepare Thailand to be a learning center on the issue of aging in ASEAN in preparation for the forthcoming ASEAN Community.

Thailand is facing the most rapid aging increase in all ASEAN countries. 12.3% of the population is aged over 60, and, in that group, the number aged over 80 has increased from 10.1% in the year 2000 to 12.7% in 2010. Therefore, Thai Government, MOPH, MSDHS and other relevant ministries have requested the assistance to JICA to carry out this new LTOP Project which aims to develop new Model Services in Thailand to care vulnerable people, especially the frail elderly who need long-term care at community level, those who cannot perform daily activities due to chronic disease, and help reducing the burden of their families. The LTOP Project plans to develop human resources on Care Management, disseminate Operational Manual for Model Services and Policy Recommendations will be formulated. The Project, an extension or combination of the former CTOP Project (Community Health Care and Social Welfare Services Model for Thai Older Persons, 2007-2011), will be conducted for five years, from 2013 to 2017, at the above-mentioned six pilot sites.

The opening speeches were delivered by Dr. Pradit Sintavanarong, Minister of Public Health, H.E. Shigekazu Sato, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to the Kingdom of Thailand and Ms. Yanee Krailert, Director of the Office of Welfare Promotion, Protection and Empowerment of Vulnerable Groups, MSDHS. Following these, an overview of the Project was given by Dr. Chanvit Tharathep, Deputy Permanent Secretary of MOPH as Project Manager. Then, Three Japanese experts presented. Firstly, Dr. Yutaka Horie, Deputy Assistant Minister for International Policy Planning, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Japan, spoke on "Elderly Policies of Japan, Past, Present, and Future." Secondly, Mr. Yoshikazu Hasegawa, of the Care Management Support Center, Japan, spoke on "Care Management in Japan." Finally Prof. Nanako Tamiya, University of Tsukuba, Japan, spoke on "International Comparison of Long-Term Care Systems." Then, representatives of the six pilot sites outlined the current situation of their sites.

During the Conference, it was discussed that MOPH should have a National Strategy which integrate government, private sector, communities and related organizations. (1) in the short-term, improving community-based long-term aged-care services, and (2) in the longer term, developing a strategy to manage this issue pro-actively by encouraging families to have more children – the present rate of about 1.5 per family should be raised to at least 2 – helping to adjust the balance of our population structure. This should be accompanied by a program delivering physical and mental support to the elderly and frail in order to enhance their productivity.

Finally, the commitment to establish Model Services in the six pilot sites starting from October 2013 in order to improve the quality of both long-term care provision and the lives of elderly persons, and to encourage collaboration on the issue of aging care, and to prepare to be a learning center on aging in ASEAN countries ahead of the imminent ASEAN Community was stated.

A Scene from the Conference

A Scene from the Conference

Presentation from 6 sites From CTOP to LTOP

Trace the History from CTOP to LTOP

Photos from National Conference