Session 1.2: national health perspectives of the Tsunami crisis.

This is a summary of the presentations and discussion of Session 1.2 of the Conference, Health Aspects of the Tsunami Disaster in Asia, convened by the World Health Organization (WHO) in Phuket, Thailand, 04-06 May 2005. The topics discussed included issues related national health perspectives as pertaining to the responses to the damage created by the Tsunami.

The regulation of assisted reproductive technology in Thailand.

The Executive Board of the Medical Council of Thailand has set up an ad hoc committee to establish the regulations of practising of assisted reproductive technology. The committee assigned the Royal Thai College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists to supervise and take charge of the administration and formulate an annual report in accordance with the Thai Medical Council Declaration. The regulation was finally approved on October 9, 1997.

Unnecessary hospital infection control practices in Thailand: a survey.

The high prevalence of hospital-acquired infection has a significant impact on the operating cost of hospitals in Thailand. A nationwide questionnaire survey was conducted to determine how frequently unnecessary infection control procedures were performed. Nearly 17% of hospitals routinely cleaned floors with disinfectants; 48% installed ultraviolet lights in the operating room; 57% performed routine environmental cultures; 68% reported fogging of the operating theatres and the isolation rooms; wearing a protective gown in the intensive care units was routine in 57% of the surveyed hospitals; 30% of hospital laundries set temperatures unnecessarily high and sterile gloves were overused in 25% of hospitals.

Primary amoebic meningoencephalitis: a first reported case in Thailand.

A case of primary amoebic meningoencephalitis caused by Naegleria, from Sisaket province of Thailand is first reported. A 5-year old Thai with boy a history of swimming in a pond along a rice field before the onset of this illness, was admitted to the provincial hospital for chief complaints of headache, high fever, vomiting and drowsiness for 4 days. On admission he had convulsions and became comatosed with signs of meningeal irritation.