Procedural fairness in benefit package design: inclusion of pre-exposure prophylaxis of HIV in Universal Coverage Scheme in Thailand.

Since 2002, Thailand's Universal Coverage Scheme (UCS) has adopted a comprehensive benefits package with few exclusions. A positive-list approach has gradually been applied, with pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) of HIV recently being included. Disagreements resulting from competing values and diverging interests necessitate an emphasis on procedural fairness when making any decisions.

Definition, Practice, Regulations, and Effects of Balance Billing: A Scoping Review.

Background: Additional billing is commonly and legally practiced in some countries for patients covered by health insurance. However, knowledge and understanding of the additional billings are limited. This study reviews evidence on additional billing practices including definition, scope of practice, regulations and their effects on insured patients.

Advancing the partnership between Japan and Thailand on global health and UHC: "new normal" approach during COVID-19 pandemic.

Partnerships, particularly, South-South and Triangular Cooperation play an important role in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The Partnership Project for Global Health and Universal Health Coverage (UHC) between Japan and Thailand (the Project) was launched in 2016 as a four-year flagship project for Triangular Cooperation and continued to the second phase in 2020. Participating countries include Asian and African countries who are striving to drive global health and to move towards UHC.

Learning from pandemic responses: Informing a resilient and equitable health system recovery in Thailand.

This article is part of the Research Topic 'Health Systems Recovery in the Context of COVID-19 and Protracted Conflict'. The third quarter of 2022 saw COVID-19 cases and deaths in Thailand reduced significantly, and high levels of COVID-19 vaccine coverage. COVID-19 was declared an "endemic" disease, and economic activities resumed.

Effective coverage of diabetes and hypertension: an analysis of Thailand's national insurance database 2016-2019.

Objectives: This study assesses effective coverage of diabetes and hypertension in Thailand during 2016-2019.

Design: Mixed method, analysis of National health insurance database 2016-2019 and in-depth interviews.

Setting: Beneficiaries of Universal Coverage Scheme residing outside Bangkok.

COVID-19 Aftermath: Direction Towards Universal Health Coverage in Low-Income Countries Comment on "Health Coverage and Financial Protection in Uganda: A Political Economy Perspective".

Progressive realization of universal health coverage (UHC) requires health systems capacity to provide quality service and financial risk protection which supports access to services without financial hardship. Government health spending in low-income countries (LICs) has been low and heavily relied on external donor resources and out-of-pocket payment. This has resulted in high prevalence of catastrophic health spending or foregone care by those who cannot afford.

Universal access to comprehensive COVID-19 services for everyone in Thailand.

Despite Thailand having had universal health coverage (UHC) with comprehensive benefit packages since 2002, services are neither listed nor budget earmarked for COVID-19 responses. Policy decisions were made immediately after the first outbreak in 2020 to fully fund a comprehensive benefit package for COVID-19. The Cabinet approved significant additional budget to respond to the unfolding pandemic.

Exclusive Breastfeeding Experiences of Thai Mothers in Metropolitan Bangkok.

Introduction: In 2019, only 14% of mothers in Thailand performed six-month exclusive breastfeeding. This study sought to understand the pathways that mothers in Bangkok Metropolitan took to achieve successful six-month exclusive breastfeeding.

Methods: A total of 50 mothers living in Bangkok with children aged 6-12 months, who achieved and not achieved 6-month exclusive breastfeeding, were recruited for in-depth interviews during February to July 2020.

Paths towards Universal Health Coverage: beyond political commitments.

The rapid economic growth in low and middle-income countries provides the opportunity of translating political commitment into action for achieving Universal Health Coverage. However, this is not straightforward. High donor dependence in low income countries; the lack of fiscal space; the inadequacy of attention to primary health care and under-developed pre-payment systems all pose challenges.

Healthcare providers' perspectives on integrating NCDs into primary healthcare in Thailand: a mixed method study.

Background: In response to an increased health burden from non-communicable diseases (NCDs), primary health care (PHC) is effective platform to support NCDs prevention and control. This study aims to assess Thailand's PHC capacity in providing NCDs services, identify enabling factors and challenges and provide policy recommendations for improvement.

Methods: This cross-sectional mixed-method study was conducted between October 2019 and May 2020.

Breastfeeding Practice and Association between Characteristics and Experiences of Mothers Living in Bangkok.

Although the benefits of breastfeeding are widely recognized, only 14% of mothers in Thailand exclusively breastfed their children during the first six months of their lives in 2019, which dropped from 23% in 2016. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) up to six months, current breastfeeding patterns, and key determinants that influence six-month EBF among mothers residing in Bangkok, Thailand. A cross-sectional study was conducted using a self-administered questionnaire survey.

Do efficiency gains really translate into more budget for health? An assessment framework and country applications.

Efficiency has historically been considered a key mechanism to increase the amount of available revenues to the health sector, enabling countries to expand services and benefits to progress towards universal health coverage (UHC). Country experience indicates, however, that efficiency gains do not automatically translate into greater budget for health, to additional revenues for the sector. This article proposes a framework to assess whether and how efficiency interventions are likely to increase budgetary space in health systems Based on a review of the literature and country experiences, we suggest three enabling conditions that must be met in order to transform efficiency gains into budgetary gains for health.

Participatory and responsive governance in universal health coverage: an analysis of legislative provisions in Thailand.

Participatory and responsive governance in universal health coverage (UHC) systems synergistically ensure the needs of citizens are protected and met. In Thailand, UHC constitutes of three public insurance schemes: Civil Servant Medical Benefit Scheme, Social Health Insurance and Universal Coverage Scheme. Each scheme is governed through individual laws.

Co-production of evidence for policies in Thailand: from concept to action.

apply the “triangle that moves the mountain” to analyse the co-production of evidence for health policy making in Thailand

Primary health care and sustainable development goals.

We examine the potential and limitations of primary health care in contributing to the achievement of the health-related sustainable development goals (SDGs), and recommend policies to enable a functioning primary health-care system. Governments have recently reaffirmed their commitment to the SDGs through the 2018 Declaration of Astana, which redefines the three functions of primary health care as: service provision, multisectoral actions and the empowerment of citizens. In other words, the health-related SDGs cannot be achieved by the provision of health-care services alone.

Performance of Thailand's universal health coverage scheme: Evaluating the effectiveness of annual public hearings.

Background: Legislative provisions in Thailand's National Health Security Act 2002 mandate annual public hearings for providers, beneficiaries and other stakeholders in order to improve the performance of the Universal Health Coverage Scheme (UCS).

Objective: This study aims to explore the annual public hearing process, evaluate its effectiveness and propose recommendations for improvement.

Method: In-depth interviews were conducted with 29 key informants from various stakeholder groups involved in annual public hearings.

Children and Women's Health in South East Asia: Gap Analysis and Solutions.

In response to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) commitment, eight selected countries in the South East Asia region have made a remarkable reduction in infant and child mortality, while a few have achieved an SDG 3.2 target of 25 and 12 for child and neonatal mortality rate, respectively, well before 2030. Across these eight countries, there is a large variation in the achievement of the nine dimensions of maternal, neonatal, and child health service coverage.

Defining the Benefit Package of Thailand Universal Coverage Scheme: From Pragmatism to Sophistication.

Benefit package is crucial for implementing universal health coverage (UHC). This editorial analyses how the benefit package of the Thai Universal Coverage Scheme (UC Scheme) evolved from an implicit comprehensive package which covered all conditions and interventions (with a few exceptions), to additional explicit positive lists. In 2002 when the Thai UC Scheme was launched; the comprehensive benefit package, including medicines in the national essential list of medicines, formerly offered by the previous schemes were pragmatically adopted.

Political economy of Thailand's tax-financed universal coverage scheme.

Problem: The challenge of implementing contributory health insurance among populations in the informal sector was a barrier to achieving universal health coverage (UHC) in Thailand.

Approach: UHC was a political manifesto of the 2001 election campaign. A contributory system was not a feasible option to honour the political commitment.

Legislating for public accountability in universal health coverage, Thailand.

Sustaining universal health coverage requires robust active public participation in policy formation and governance. Thailand's universal coverage scheme was implemented nationwide in 2002, allowing Thailand to achieve full population coverage through three public health insurance schemes and to demonstrate improved health outcomes. Although Thailand's position on the World Bank worldwide governance indicators has deteriorated since 1996, provisions for voice and accountability were embedded in the legislation and design of the universal coverage scheme.