Health promotion and disease prevention services for all
 
Dr Jadej Thammatacharee
Secretary-General of National Health Security Office (NHSO)
 
We have received questions from many patients not covered by the Universal Coverage Scheme (UCS) — concerning their eligibility to get health promotion and disease prevention (PP) services provided in the scheme.
 
For the National Health Security Office (NHSO), which manages the UCS fund, we believe that PP services should be available to everyone regardless of their healthcare schemes.
 

Maintaining the good health of individuals through PP services means we can prevent the spread of diseases. We can see a clear example of how the coronavirus affects everyone during the recent pandemic.
 
Countries with fragmented health services or lacking universal health coverage could not effectively respond to the crisis. Those with inadequate support for PP services, which include screening and testing, struggled to contain the virus.
 
Learning from this experience, we want to create a health system where everyone can access PP services, resulting in the whole society's good health and well-being together.
 


The country's 70 million population is covered by one of the government’s three healthcare schemes — UCS, Social Security Scheme (SSS), and Civil Servant Medical Benefits (CSMB).
 
Of those, 49 million are UCS beneficiaries who can access various PP services offered in the scheme. The rest are eligible for different PP packages provided under SSS and CSMB.
 
The health benefits package of each scheme is not similar, creating a coverage gap, especially in the types of services and the level of accessibility.
 

But the tide turned on 18 July when the Thai cabinet had a resolution to allow all Thai citizens to benefit from comprehensive PP services supported by the NHSO.
 
“Providing PP services to all Thai citizens is within the authority of the NHSO," read the resolution.
 
This means the NHSO is given the power to support health providers in PP services, including reimbursing the service fees and collaborating in developing and delivering services to all patients.
 
Having a clear vision of how PP services should look, the NHSO must also ensure that the financial mechanism supports this vision.
 

Following the resolution endorsement, the NHSO board issued a regulation on the operation and management of the national health security fund that includes payment criteria, methods, and conditions for supporting PP services.
 
Health providers can claim the PP service fees from the NHSO, which acts as a clearing house, instead of contacting different healthcare scheme fund managers separately for the claiming procedure.
 
Processing the claim with a single organization will eventually reduce the administrative tasks of the health staff. Thai citizens will be the most beneficial stakeholders as they will access PP services timely.   


PP services coverage includes care for all Thai citizens in five groups — pregnant women, infants up to five years old, children, adolescents and adults aged 25-59, and elderly individuals aged 60 and above.
 
These services include antenatal care, basic immunizations, cervical cancer screening, diabetes and high blood pressure screening, cholesterol and HDL blood tests, hepatitis B screening, cardiovascular disease, and stroke risk screening.
 
Other services include family planning, dental cleanings and fluoride treatments, adult diapers for bedridden patients and those with incontinence problems, and more.
 
All are provided at no cost to the patients, with the health providers billing the NHSO after providing the services.
 
In addition, the NHSO has adopted technology to increase service accessibility. We join hands with Krung Thai Bank, a developer of the “Pao Tang" mobile application, in which users can view the list of PP services and health provider names.
 
Users can schedule appointments with health providers via the mobile application or contact health providers directly to make appointments by showing identity cards.
 

The information relating to PP services is also available on the "PP Platform" available on the NHSO website at www.nhso.go.th, or use the LINE of the NHSO by typing "@nhso" in the search box.
 

Furthermore, we have collaborated with more than 1,000 pharmacies and clinics nationwide where patients can access PP services — including free condoms, oral contraceptives, pregnancy testing, prenatal care, iron supplement pills, and physical and mental health risk screening and assessment.
 

Our push for PP services for all is a proactive measure to prevent illnesses and promote good health for all Thai citizens.
 
We want to invite all Thai citizens to seek PP services at health facilities at their convenience.
 


We believe that affordable care is people's right, and they should access healthcare at no cost and with a straightforward and accessible process.