Project News

The Project invited the Minister of Public Health, Dr. Piyasakol Sakolsatayadorn, and the other 20 influential officials of Thai government to Japan by a JICA invitation program from February 21 – 25, 2017.

Thailand has achieved the universal health coverage (UHC) in 2002, providing nearly the entire population with access to health service regardless of income status. However, the ever-rising medical cost, in the face of the ageing society, advances in medicine and the increasing prevalence of non-communicable diseases, has made it crucial that the Thai UHC is financially sustained. To this end, a committee on resource mobilization for sustainable universal health coverage, established by the Ministry of Public Health of the Thai Government, has conducted a study that proposed four "SAFE" goals - Sustainability, Adequacy, Fairness, and Efficiency – which Thailand must strive for.

Japan, with its WHO-ranked best health system, can share its lessons and good practices in the design, implementation and monitoring of its health insurance system that ensures sustainability while not neglecting the poor and marginalized.

Through the invitation program, Thai delegates have learned how Japan's experiences could potentially be applied to the Thai UHC's financial sustainability challenge.

Thanks to kind cooperation from eight organizations including the Ministry of Health Labour and Welfare, National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies and Kunitachi City Municipal Government, experiences and lessons learned on Japan's health policies and health insurance systems, and Japan's financial sustainability management in the face of the super-aging society have been widely shared and enthusiastically discussed.

The invitation program, which both the minister of public health and permanent secretary of Ministry of public health attended, has been successfully completed its schedule, and it was broadcasted in media in Thailand. (Please see the links below).

The minister reported the invitation program at parliament by presenting the video clip.

Ministerial meeting at Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare

Thai delegates

Thai delegates

Thai delegates