A Look at Thailands Healthcare Climate

Overview
Thailand has a universal healthcare system that is overseen by the Ministry of Public
Health. The nation spends 4.3 percent of GDP on healthcare expenditures and healthcare
is a $15.5bn industry. This system has been in effect since 2001.

In 2010 there were 1002 public hospitals and 316 private hospitals in the country.

Although healthcare faces problems, world health organizations look positively at the
system and believe it is headed in the right direction. According to the World Bank,
"Thailand has strong capacity for health system analysis and active civil society
engagement, as well as public dialogue on health sector issues." In our case, that means a
good stable system that can facilitate the implementation of new technologies.

Universal Healthcare
There are three major types of insurance that cover 99.5 percent of all citizens: the
Civil Service Welfare System (government employees), Social Security (private
employees), and Universal Coverage (everyone else)
While some private hospitals accept the above forms of coverage, most are
funded by private insurance or direct patient payment.
Some problems the system faces include:
o Inequalities in healthcare worker distribution: Many doctors are
concentrated in urban areas like Bangkok, while rural hospitals, where
Kanga is primarily targeting, have less healthcare workers.
Bangkok has the highest rate of doctors and nurses while the
northeastern part of the nation faces the lowest rate of healthcare
workers.
o There is a growing fiscal burden on the Thailand government to pay for
benefits. Healthcare costs are rising and while individuals don't have to
pay out of pocket, the government must cover the cost. From 1975 to
2008, government health spending as a share of GDP has doubled from
1.5% to 3%. This can be attributed to the shifting age of the population

Shifting Demographics
Compared to other countries in the region, Thailand has a low fertility rate. It was
1.8 in 2008 and expected is to decrease to 1.5 in the next 20 years. Because of this
low rate, the demographics of the nation is aging.
The elderly require more healthcare services; as a result, there will be a greater
burden on the government to cover these costs.

Relevant Statistics
Infant mortality rate (death rate for children under 1) has constantly been
improving since 2004. It now stands at 11.4 deaths per 1000 children.
Of particular interest to this case, the Neonatal mortality rate (death rate for
children under 28 days) was 8.1 deaths per 1000 births in 2012.
In 2010, professional healthcare personnel attended to 99% of all births.
80 percent of all pregnancies had proper antenatal coverage meaning mothers
visited a hospital at least 4 times during pregnancy.























Sources:
http://www-
wds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2013/03/01/00033303
7_20130301110543/Rendered/PDF/756800WP0GovtS00Box374342B00PUBLIC0.pdf

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_hospitals_in_Thailand

http://www.searo.who.int/publications/journals/seajph/whoseajphv1i3p239.pdf

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_in_Thailand#cite_note-9

http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2012/08/20/thailand-sustaining-health-
protection-for-all

Mortality rate: http://www.tradingeconomics.com/charts/thailand-mortality-rate-infant-
per-1-000-live-births-wb-data.png?s=%2fthailand%2fmortality-rate-infant-per-1-000-
live-births-wb-data.html

Neonatal rate: http://www.tradingeconomics.com/thailand/mortality-rate-neonatal-per-1-
000-live-births-wb-data.html