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backward glance 2008

The New Year is an occasion when people look back at some of the things that they have done in the past year to gain a sense of accomplishment and purpose for the future. The WHO Thailand website team will be doing this over the course of January 2009, glancing back at some of the work the Country Office and the CSR Subunit have been engaged in. We will be starting with the latter and hope that this would provide readers with a glimpse into the type of invaluable work the WHO has been doing to improve health care in Member States.

The World Health Organization’s South-East Asia Regional Subunit for Communicable Disease Surveillance and Response in Thailand

In addition to the WHO Country Office for Thailand, the South-East Asia Regional Office of WHO (SEARO) also has a small regional Subunit for Communicable Disease Surveillance and Response based in the Ministry of Public Health, Thailand in Nonthaburi. The work of this office is principally concerned with building regional capacity to prepare for, detect and respond to infectious disease outbreaks. One example of the work this office completed in 2008 is given below:

Development of case studies for a training module on outbreak investigation

In July 2007, a workshop on the “Development of a Surveillance and Rapid Response Team (SRRT) Training Curriculum for Local Level” was held by the Ayeyawady-Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy (ACMECS) in Thailand. At this workshop, the participants requested WHO assistance in the development of training materials more contextualised to the local situation, including “case studies” of real outbreaks that had occurred in Mekong Region countries. The concept of a case study is that training on how to investigate an outbreak of infectious illness can be helped by walking the trainees through a “real life” example of how a successful investigation has been done in the past.

Subsequently two workshops were held in which public health staff from representative countries worked with a team of writers/mentors to present their experience of investigating and responding to outbreaks in the region. A “step-by-step” process for outbreak investigation was advocated to facilitate a structured approach to developing draft materials. Participants to this first workshop were then supported by WHO and US-CDC staff in-country to enrich the case studies before presenting them for review at a second workshop in February 2008. A group of WHO/US-CDC epidemiologists from the concerned countries then assisted in the final revision of the case studies for publication.

Four case studies were produced: Acute Watery Diarrhea in Sekong Province, Lao PDR; A case of Acute Watery Diarrhea: Rui Liu City, Yunnan Province, China; Avian Influenza: Human Case cross-border Experience, Lao PDR – Thailand; and Diarrhea Outbreak: Phia-Ka Village, Cham-Phone District, Savannakhet, Lao PDR. The process employed in the workshop allowed participants to learn the method of writing case studies, but also to share their experiences in conducting outbreak investigations with workshop participants from other countries. The direct involvement of local field epidemiologists in producing learning materials for outbreak investigation and response is considered to be a milestone in the regional development of training in field epidemiology.

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who honours thai health permanent secretary

Dr Prat Boonyawongvirot (left),

Permanent Secretary for Public Health, receives the honourary plaque from

Dr Samlee Plianbangchang (right), WHO Regional Director for South-East Asia. Standing behind are Dr Maureen Birmingham, WHO Representative to Thailand and Dr Paijit Warachit, Deputy Permanent Secretary.

Throughout his outstanding career spanning over the past three decades, Dr Prat Boonyawongvirot, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Public Health, has developed many innovative programmes that have contributed greatly to improving the care of mental health patients in Thailand. Many of these programmes have also served as models and were adapted for use in the region, making him a leading figure in the field in South-east Asia.

To recognise his invaluable contributions, WHO presented Dr Prat with a plaque and citation on 9 December 2008 in Bangkok. Joining Dr Samlee Plianbangchang, WHO Regional Director for South-East Asia, in presenting the plaque and citation were Dr Maureen Birmingham, WHO Representative to Thailand, and staff members of the WHO country office. Several senior Thai officials were also present at the ceremony held at the Ministry of Public Health.

Among Dr Prat’s projects to improve mental health services are those on mental health capacity development, community mental health development using monks as counsellors, and a network of mental health services from the community level to provincial hospitals. Thanks to his efforts, over 1.3 million mental health sufferers have been able to gain access to treatment.

health and human rights

Health is a fundamental human right

On 10 December 2008 the Universal Declaration of Human Rights turned 60 years old. As the first universal statement on the basic principles of inalienable human rights, the declaration has certainly withstood the test of time. It has as much relevance to our lives today as it did when it emerged from the ruins of World War II. Its universal values transcend cultures and values. The declaration has become a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations.

Since human rights encompass all aspects of our existence, health is of course one of its key facets. Every country in the world is now party to at least one human rights treaty that addresses health-related rights, including the right to health and a number of rights related to conditions necessary for health.

WHO is actively strengthening its role in providing technical, intellectual and political leadership in the field of health and human rights. Its objectives are to support governments to integrate a human rights-based approach in health development, strengthen WHO’s capacity to integrate a human rights-based approach in its work, and advance the right to health in international law and international development processes.