Thailand promotes cooperation in Asia and the Pacific on UHC scheme
Practices and policies on AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Universal Health Coverage were discussed widely at the "Asia-Pacific Regional Meeting on AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Universal Health Coverage: Country Experiences, Challenges and Solutions.”
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The meeting took place at the Sukosol Hotel in Bangkok on September 5, 2018.
According to a report from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, joining the discussion were panelists from Indonesia, Cambodia, India, Japan, and Thailand, as well as representatives from civil society, the World Health Organization (WHO), and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
The session was attended by around 150 participants from government agencies, embassies, international organizations, civil society, and academia.
On this occasion, participants in the meeting also visited the Bamrasnaradura Infectious Disease Institute, Ministry of Public Health, which is known for its leadership in providing treatment to AIDS and Tuberculosis patients under Thailand’s Universal Health Coverage (UHC) scheme.
This regional meeting was part of the overall effort by Thailand to raise awareness and promote UHC collaboration among multi-stakeholders in Asia and the Pacific at the 72nd Session of the UN General Assembly in December 2017, in which Thailand successfully passed a resolution marking December 12 as International UHC Day.
Thailand was commended for the successful implementation of the UHC system and its cooperation with JICA in sharing its experiences with other countries.
Statistics compiled by the Ministry of Public Health show that in 2011 Tuberculosis surpassed HIV/AIDS as the leading cause of death from infectious diseases. Two-thirds of TB patients come from the Asia-Pacific Region.
In addition, the region witnessed prevalence of HIV and TB co-infection. Currently, the number of people living with HIV in Thailand is around 450,000 while the rate of new AIDS infection is approximately 6,000 persons per year.
As for Tuberculosis, the rate of newly infected patients is around 120,000 per year, placing Thailand in the first place among the 14 countries with the highest rates of Tuberculosis infections. Thailand is targeting to eliminate AIDS by 2030 and to reduce the rate of Tuberculosis infection to 10 per 100,000 persons by 2035.