Health units to hand free birth control pills and condoms
 
Free birth control pills and condoms will be available at 2,275 health units across Thailand from Feb 1 onward.
 
Every Thai aged over 15 can request them from public and private hospitals, clinics, and pharmacies partnering with the National Health Security Office (NHSO).
 
The NHSO Deputy Secretary-General Dr Jakkrit Ngowsiri said an individual could request between one to three packs of birth control pills at once and no more than 13 packs a year. 
 
Free condoms will be available from Apr 1 onward. A beneficiary will find condoms available in four sizes — 49, 52, 54, and 56 millimeters — and able to request no more than ten pieces a week.
 
"This benefit is part of the NHSO's health promotion and disease prevention program. We have added more outlets this year to increase people's access to birth control alternatives," said Dr Jakkrit.
 
"It will prevent unplanned pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, especially in the youth population."
 
The Public Health Ministry's Reproductive Health Office estimated that around 169 teenage mothers between 15 and 19 years old gave birth to children each day in 2019.
 
Nearly 64,000 women under 20 gave birth in the same year, and around 5,200 of them repeated pregnancy.
 
Meanwhile, the prevalence of sexually transmitted diseases tended to increase recently. Around 50 in 100,000 youth between 15 and 24 years old had syphilis in 2020, rising from 14 per 100,000 in 2016.
 
The prevalence of gonorrhea in the youth population did not improve in the same period, with 59 in 100,000 people infected in 2020.
 
People with sexually transmitted diseases will have a 5-9 times higher risk of exposing to HIV when compared to people without the diseases. 
 
Dr Jakkrit said the health units would procure contraceptive pills, and the NHSO will cover the cost, around 40 baht per pack of birth control pills. Condoms will be procured by the NHSO and handed to health units.
 
Anyone can request free birth control pills through the PaoTang mobile application or simply drop by at health units and show a Thai ID card. Free condoms can be requested via the NHSO's Line.
 
Making good-quality condoms available is part of Thailand's National AIDS Strategy 2017-2030, which targets ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030.
 
Under the national strategy, the use of condoms is seen as an effective tool to prevent HIV infection and sexually transmitted diseases.
 
To encourage condom use involves measures to boost people's acceptance of condom use as part of their daily lives and provide sex education to students.
 
Other measures include engaging parents, school teachers, and local communities in raising awareness about the importance of condom use and the risks of HIV infection and sexually transmitted diseases.
 
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