Thailand urged to revamp UHC to ensure coverage for migrants
Thailand urged to revamp UHC to ensure coverage for migrants
About 1 million migrants are left undocumented and without proper health coverage, most of who are women and children, said Juan Santander, Deputy Representative of UNICEF.
These women and children are mostly dependants of the documented low-skilled migrant workers from Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos, said Mr Santander.
He was speaking at a side session on Jan 28, 2020 of Prince Mahidol Award Conference (PMAC) 2020, an annual international conference focusing on policy-related health issues, held in Bangkok.
There are about 4 million migrants in Thailand but only 3 million of them are documented ones, he said.
“Thailand is a primary host to migration from all neighbour countries, except Malaysia,” he said.
Thailand actually has a very strong universal health system, given its considerable progress in tackling major health threats such as HIV/Aids observed in the past one or two decades, he said.
The country also has a very generous policy on migration as well and it provides migrants with sufficient protection and education, he said.
“However, it completely fails in [assuring health coverage for] women and children,” he said referring to migrants who are children and women.
There are between 300,000 and 400,000 child migrants, most of who are in the 1 million undocumented group, he said.
A primary reason for this problem of these women and children being excluded from Thailand’s migrant registration system is that the government’s policy of importing migrant labour from neighbouring nations doesn’t explicitly include their dependants, he said.
“So, there is no way to register them (migrant workers’ dependants),” he said. “And if they (migrant workers) have children here they (their newly born children) will immediately become undocumented.”
Even for the documented migrants, the health coverage rate is still fairly low, about two-third, he said.
As for the undocumented migrants, the overall health coverage rate is only about 50%, he said.
And for children specifically, the health coverage rate is even less, about a quarter, he said.
In a health coverage programme that focuses on migrant children aged under 7, for instance, only about 30,000 have registered, he said.
The low registration rate came despite a very low co-payment charged, about 1 baht per day, he said.
A main reason for this possibly is that since these children are undocumented, they are afraid of visiting a hospital for health care services, he said.
“First if they show up in a hospital they may not be allowed… because they have no IDs. Second, they might have feared of showing up,” he said.
Even for the migrants who are documented, the prices of health care services may be too high for them, he said.
“The policy needs to be reformed. The current scheme does not work to access dependants of the migrants who are here and does not work even for a large number of those who are coming with legal work permits,” he said.
Assoc Prof Maria Nilsson, an expert on the impact of climate change on public health with Umea University in Sweden, said it is estimated to be around 1 billion people becoming migrants due to climate change.
Climate change has several implications for public health, particularly on vulnerable groups including pregnant women and children, she said.
///////////28 January 2020
About 1 million migrants are left undocumented and without proper health coverage, most of who are women and children, said Juan Santander, Deputy Representative of UNICEF.
These women and children are mostly dependants of the documented low-skilled migrant workers from Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos, said Mr Santander.
He was speaking at a side session on Jan 28, 2020 of Prince Mahidol Award Conference (PMAC) 2020, an annual international conference focusing on policy-related health issues, held in Bangkok.
There are about 4 million migrants in Thailand but only 3 million of them are documented ones, he said.
“Thailand is a primary host to migration from all neighbour countries, except Malaysia,” he said.
Thailand actually has a very strong universal health system, given its considerable progress in tackling major health threats such as HIV/Aids observed in the past one or two decades, he said.
The country also has a very generous policy on migration as well and it provides migrants with sufficient protection and education, he said.
“However, it completely fails in [assuring health coverage for] women and children,” he said referring to migrants who are children and women.
There are between 300,000 and 400,000 child migrants, most of who are in the 1 million undocumented group, he said.
A primary reason for this problem of these women and children being excluded from Thailand’s migrant registration system is that the government’s policy of importing migrant labour from neighbouring nations doesn’t explicitly include their dependants, he said.
“So, there is no way to register them (migrant workers’ dependants),” he said. “And if they (migrant workers) have children here they (their newly born children) will immediately become undocumented.”
Even for the documented migrants, the health coverage rate is still fairly low, about two-third, he said.
As for the undocumented migrants, the overall health coverage rate is only about 50%, he said.
And for children specifically, the health coverage rate is even less, about a quarter, he said.
In a health coverage programme that focuses on migrant children aged under 7, for instance, only about 30,000 have registered, he said.
The low registration rate came despite a very low co-payment charged, about 1 baht per day, he said.
A main reason for this possibly is that since these children are undocumented, they are afraid of visiting a hospital for health care services, he said.
“First if they show up in a hospital they may not be allowed… because they have no IDs. Second, they might have feared of showing up,” he said.
Even for the migrants who are documented, the prices of health care services may be too high for them, he said.
“The policy needs to be reformed. The current scheme does not work to access dependants of the migrants who are here and does not work even for a large number of those who are coming with legal work permits,” he said.
Assoc Prof Maria Nilsson, an expert on the impact of climate change on public health with Umea University in Sweden, said it is estimated to be around 1 billion people becoming migrants due to climate change.
Climate change has several implications for public health, particularly on vulnerable groups including pregnant women and children, she said.
///////////28 January 2020
IN DEPTH
Thailand urged to revamp UHC to ensure coverage for migrants
Thailand urged to revamp UHC to ensure coverage for migrants
About 1 million migrants are left undocumented and without proper health coverage, most of who are women and children, said Juan Santander, Deputy Representative of UNICEF.
These women and children are mostly dependants of the documented low-skilled migrant workers from Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos, said Mr Santander.
He was speaking at a side session on Jan 28, 2020 of Prince Mahidol Award Conference (PMAC) 2020, an annual international conference focusing on policy-related health issues, held in Bangkok.
There are about 4 million migrants in Thailand but only 3 million of them are documented ones, he said.
“Thailand is a primary host to migration from all neighbour countries, except Malaysia,” he said.
Thailand actually has a very strong universal health system, given its considerable progress in tackling major health threats such as HIV/Aids observed in the past one or two decades, he said.
The country also has a very generous policy on migration as well and it provides migrants with sufficient protection and education, he said.
“However, it completely fails in [assuring health coverage for] women and children,” he said referring to migrants who are children and women.
There are between 300,000 and 400,000 child migrants, most of who are in the 1 million undocumented group, he said.
A primary reason for this problem of these women and children being excluded from Thailand’s migrant registration system is that the government’s policy of importing migrant labour from neighbouring nations doesn’t explicitly include their dependants, he said.
“So, there is no way to register them (migrant workers’ dependants),” he said. “And if they (migrant workers) have children here they (their newly born children) will immediately become undocumented.”
Even for the documented migrants, the health coverage rate is still fairly low, about two-third, he said.
As for the undocumented migrants, the overall health coverage rate is only about 50%, he said.
And for children specifically, the health coverage rate is even less, about a quarter, he said.
In a health coverage programme that focuses on migrant children aged under 7, for instance, only about 30,000 have registered, he said.
The low registration rate came despite a very low co-payment charged, about 1 baht per day, he said.
A main reason for this possibly is that since these children are undocumented, they are afraid of visiting a hospital for health care services, he said.
“First if they show up in a hospital they may not be allowed… because they have no IDs. Second, they might have feared of showing up,” he said.
Even for the migrants who are documented, the prices of health care services may be too high for them, he said.
“The policy needs to be reformed. The current scheme does not work to access dependants of the migrants who are here and does not work even for a large number of those who are coming with legal work permits,” he said.
Assoc Prof Maria Nilsson, an expert on the impact of climate change on public health with Umea University in Sweden, said it is estimated to be around 1 billion people becoming migrants due to climate change.
Climate change has several implications for public health, particularly on vulnerable groups including pregnant women and children, she said.
///////////28 January 2020
About 1 million migrants are left undocumented and without proper health coverage, most of who are women and children, said Juan Santander, Deputy Representative of UNICEF.
These women and children are mostly dependants of the documented low-skilled migrant workers from Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos, said Mr Santander.
He was speaking at a side session on Jan 28, 2020 of Prince Mahidol Award Conference (PMAC) 2020, an annual international conference focusing on policy-related health issues, held in Bangkok.
There are about 4 million migrants in Thailand but only 3 million of them are documented ones, he said.
“Thailand is a primary host to migration from all neighbour countries, except Malaysia,” he said.
Thailand actually has a very strong universal health system, given its considerable progress in tackling major health threats such as HIV/Aids observed in the past one or two decades, he said.
The country also has a very generous policy on migration as well and it provides migrants with sufficient protection and education, he said.
“However, it completely fails in [assuring health coverage for] women and children,” he said referring to migrants who are children and women.
There are between 300,000 and 400,000 child migrants, most of who are in the 1 million undocumented group, he said.
A primary reason for this problem of these women and children being excluded from Thailand’s migrant registration system is that the government’s policy of importing migrant labour from neighbouring nations doesn’t explicitly include their dependants, he said.
“So, there is no way to register them (migrant workers’ dependants),” he said. “And if they (migrant workers) have children here they (their newly born children) will immediately become undocumented.”
Even for the documented migrants, the health coverage rate is still fairly low, about two-third, he said.
As for the undocumented migrants, the overall health coverage rate is only about 50%, he said.
And for children specifically, the health coverage rate is even less, about a quarter, he said.
In a health coverage programme that focuses on migrant children aged under 7, for instance, only about 30,000 have registered, he said.
The low registration rate came despite a very low co-payment charged, about 1 baht per day, he said.
A main reason for this possibly is that since these children are undocumented, they are afraid of visiting a hospital for health care services, he said.
“First if they show up in a hospital they may not be allowed… because they have no IDs. Second, they might have feared of showing up,” he said.
Even for the migrants who are documented, the prices of health care services may be too high for them, he said.
“The policy needs to be reformed. The current scheme does not work to access dependants of the migrants who are here and does not work even for a large number of those who are coming with legal work permits,” he said.
Assoc Prof Maria Nilsson, an expert on the impact of climate change on public health with Umea University in Sweden, said it is estimated to be around 1 billion people becoming migrants due to climate change.
Climate change has several implications for public health, particularly on vulnerable groups including pregnant women and children, she said.
///////////28 January 2020
Events
Thailand urged to revamp UHC to ensure coverage for migrants
Thailand urged to revamp UHC to ensure coverage for migrants
About 1 million migrants are left undocumented and without proper health coverage, most of who are women and children, said Juan Santander, Deputy Representative of UNICEF.
These women and children are mostly dependants of the documented low-skilled migrant workers from Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos, said Mr Santander.
He was speaking at a side session on Jan 28, 2020 of Prince Mahidol Award Conference (PMAC) 2020, an annual international conference focusing on policy-related health issues, held in Bangkok.
There are about 4 million migrants in Thailand but only 3 million of them are documented ones, he said.
“Thailand is a primary host to migration from all neighbour countries, except Malaysia,” he said.
Thailand actually has a very strong universal health system, given its considerable progress in tackling major health threats such as HIV/Aids observed in the past one or two decades, he said.
The country also has a very generous policy on migration as well and it provides migrants with sufficient protection and education, he said.
“However, it completely fails in [assuring health coverage for] women and children,” he said referring to migrants who are children and women.
There are between 300,000 and 400,000 child migrants, most of who are in the 1 million undocumented group, he said.
A primary reason for this problem of these women and children being excluded from Thailand’s migrant registration system is that the government’s policy of importing migrant labour from neighbouring nations doesn’t explicitly include their dependants, he said.
“So, there is no way to register them (migrant workers’ dependants),” he said. “And if they (migrant workers) have children here they (their newly born children) will immediately become undocumented.”
Even for the documented migrants, the health coverage rate is still fairly low, about two-third, he said.
As for the undocumented migrants, the overall health coverage rate is only about 50%, he said.
And for children specifically, the health coverage rate is even less, about a quarter, he said.
In a health coverage programme that focuses on migrant children aged under 7, for instance, only about 30,000 have registered, he said.
The low registration rate came despite a very low co-payment charged, about 1 baht per day, he said.
A main reason for this possibly is that since these children are undocumented, they are afraid of visiting a hospital for health care services, he said.
“First if they show up in a hospital they may not be allowed… because they have no IDs. Second, they might have feared of showing up,” he said.
Even for the migrants who are documented, the prices of health care services may be too high for them, he said.
“The policy needs to be reformed. The current scheme does not work to access dependants of the migrants who are here and does not work even for a large number of those who are coming with legal work permits,” he said.
Assoc Prof Maria Nilsson, an expert on the impact of climate change on public health with Umea University in Sweden, said it is estimated to be around 1 billion people becoming migrants due to climate change.
Climate change has several implications for public health, particularly on vulnerable groups including pregnant women and children, she said.
///////////28 January 2020
About 1 million migrants are left undocumented and without proper health coverage, most of who are women and children, said Juan Santander, Deputy Representative of UNICEF.
These women and children are mostly dependants of the documented low-skilled migrant workers from Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos, said Mr Santander.
He was speaking at a side session on Jan 28, 2020 of Prince Mahidol Award Conference (PMAC) 2020, an annual international conference focusing on policy-related health issues, held in Bangkok.
There are about 4 million migrants in Thailand but only 3 million of them are documented ones, he said.
“Thailand is a primary host to migration from all neighbour countries, except Malaysia,” he said.
Thailand actually has a very strong universal health system, given its considerable progress in tackling major health threats such as HIV/Aids observed in the past one or two decades, he said.
The country also has a very generous policy on migration as well and it provides migrants with sufficient protection and education, he said.
“However, it completely fails in [assuring health coverage for] women and children,” he said referring to migrants who are children and women.
There are between 300,000 and 400,000 child migrants, most of who are in the 1 million undocumented group, he said.
A primary reason for this problem of these women and children being excluded from Thailand’s migrant registration system is that the government’s policy of importing migrant labour from neighbouring nations doesn’t explicitly include their dependants, he said.
“So, there is no way to register them (migrant workers’ dependants),” he said. “And if they (migrant workers) have children here they (their newly born children) will immediately become undocumented.”
Even for the documented migrants, the health coverage rate is still fairly low, about two-third, he said.
As for the undocumented migrants, the overall health coverage rate is only about 50%, he said.
And for children specifically, the health coverage rate is even less, about a quarter, he said.
In a health coverage programme that focuses on migrant children aged under 7, for instance, only about 30,000 have registered, he said.
The low registration rate came despite a very low co-payment charged, about 1 baht per day, he said.
A main reason for this possibly is that since these children are undocumented, they are afraid of visiting a hospital for health care services, he said.
“First if they show up in a hospital they may not be allowed… because they have no IDs. Second, they might have feared of showing up,” he said.
Even for the migrants who are documented, the prices of health care services may be too high for them, he said.
“The policy needs to be reformed. The current scheme does not work to access dependants of the migrants who are here and does not work even for a large number of those who are coming with legal work permits,” he said.
Assoc Prof Maria Nilsson, an expert on the impact of climate change on public health with Umea University in Sweden, said it is estimated to be around 1 billion people becoming migrants due to climate change.
Climate change has several implications for public health, particularly on vulnerable groups including pregnant women and children, she said.
///////////28 January 2020
RESOURCE CENTER
SECRETARY-GENERAL
Thailand urged to revamp UHC to ensure coverage for migrants
Thailand urged to revamp UHC to ensure coverage for migrants
About 1 million migrants are left undocumented and without proper health coverage, most of who are women and children, said Juan Santander, Deputy Representative of UNICEF.
These women and children are mostly dependants of the documented low-skilled migrant workers from Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos, said Mr Santander.
He was speaking at a side session on Jan 28, 2020 of Prince Mahidol Award Conference (PMAC) 2020, an annual international conference focusing on policy-related health issues, held in Bangkok.
There are about 4 million migrants in Thailand but only 3 million of them are documented ones, he said.
“Thailand is a primary host to migration from all neighbour countries, except Malaysia,” he said.
Thailand actually has a very strong universal health system, given its considerable progress in tackling major health threats such as HIV/Aids observed in the past one or two decades, he said.
The country also has a very generous policy on migration as well and it provides migrants with sufficient protection and education, he said.
“However, it completely fails in [assuring health coverage for] women and children,” he said referring to migrants who are children and women.
There are between 300,000 and 400,000 child migrants, most of who are in the 1 million undocumented group, he said.
A primary reason for this problem of these women and children being excluded from Thailand’s migrant registration system is that the government’s policy of importing migrant labour from neighbouring nations doesn’t explicitly include their dependants, he said.
“So, there is no way to register them (migrant workers’ dependants),” he said. “And if they (migrant workers) have children here they (their newly born children) will immediately become undocumented.”
Even for the documented migrants, the health coverage rate is still fairly low, about two-third, he said.
As for the undocumented migrants, the overall health coverage rate is only about 50%, he said.
And for children specifically, the health coverage rate is even less, about a quarter, he said.
In a health coverage programme that focuses on migrant children aged under 7, for instance, only about 30,000 have registered, he said.
The low registration rate came despite a very low co-payment charged, about 1 baht per day, he said.
A main reason for this possibly is that since these children are undocumented, they are afraid of visiting a hospital for health care services, he said.
“First if they show up in a hospital they may not be allowed… because they have no IDs. Second, they might have feared of showing up,” he said.
Even for the migrants who are documented, the prices of health care services may be too high for them, he said.
“The policy needs to be reformed. The current scheme does not work to access dependants of the migrants who are here and does not work even for a large number of those who are coming with legal work permits,” he said.
Assoc Prof Maria Nilsson, an expert on the impact of climate change on public health with Umea University in Sweden, said it is estimated to be around 1 billion people becoming migrants due to climate change.
Climate change has several implications for public health, particularly on vulnerable groups including pregnant women and children, she said.
///////////28 January 2020
About 1 million migrants are left undocumented and without proper health coverage, most of who are women and children, said Juan Santander, Deputy Representative of UNICEF.
These women and children are mostly dependants of the documented low-skilled migrant workers from Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos, said Mr Santander.
He was speaking at a side session on Jan 28, 2020 of Prince Mahidol Award Conference (PMAC) 2020, an annual international conference focusing on policy-related health issues, held in Bangkok.
There are about 4 million migrants in Thailand but only 3 million of them are documented ones, he said.
“Thailand is a primary host to migration from all neighbour countries, except Malaysia,” he said.
Thailand actually has a very strong universal health system, given its considerable progress in tackling major health threats such as HIV/Aids observed in the past one or two decades, he said.
The country also has a very generous policy on migration as well and it provides migrants with sufficient protection and education, he said.
“However, it completely fails in [assuring health coverage for] women and children,” he said referring to migrants who are children and women.
There are between 300,000 and 400,000 child migrants, most of who are in the 1 million undocumented group, he said.
A primary reason for this problem of these women and children being excluded from Thailand’s migrant registration system is that the government’s policy of importing migrant labour from neighbouring nations doesn’t explicitly include their dependants, he said.
“So, there is no way to register them (migrant workers’ dependants),” he said. “And if they (migrant workers) have children here they (their newly born children) will immediately become undocumented.”
Even for the documented migrants, the health coverage rate is still fairly low, about two-third, he said.
As for the undocumented migrants, the overall health coverage rate is only about 50%, he said.
And for children specifically, the health coverage rate is even less, about a quarter, he said.
In a health coverage programme that focuses on migrant children aged under 7, for instance, only about 30,000 have registered, he said.
The low registration rate came despite a very low co-payment charged, about 1 baht per day, he said.
A main reason for this possibly is that since these children are undocumented, they are afraid of visiting a hospital for health care services, he said.
“First if they show up in a hospital they may not be allowed… because they have no IDs. Second, they might have feared of showing up,” he said.
Even for the migrants who are documented, the prices of health care services may be too high for them, he said.
“The policy needs to be reformed. The current scheme does not work to access dependants of the migrants who are here and does not work even for a large number of those who are coming with legal work permits,” he said.
Assoc Prof Maria Nilsson, an expert on the impact of climate change on public health with Umea University in Sweden, said it is estimated to be around 1 billion people becoming migrants due to climate change.
Climate change has several implications for public health, particularly on vulnerable groups including pregnant women and children, she said.
///////////28 January 2020
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