Background: Unsafe abortion is one of the major public health problems in Thailand. Although the penal code of Thailand and the Thai Medical Council permit doctors to perform safe abortion in certain conditions, little is known about the attitudes that new medical doctors have towards abortion. The objectives of this article are to explore the attitudes towards abortion in certain conditions among new medical graduates and to identify factors related to those attitudes. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in 2018 among 2017 medic...

Background: Physical inactivity and sedentary behavior are significant risk factors for various non-communicable diseases. Bangkok, Thailand’s capital, is one of the fastest-growing metropolitans in Southeast Asia. Few studies have investigated the epidemiology of physical activity and sedentary behavior among Bangkok residents. This study aims to investigate the prevalence of combined physical activity and sedentary behavior patterns among Bangkok residents and examine relationships between participants’ characteristics and the combined mov...

This article is part of the Research Topic 'Health Systems Recovery in the Context of COVID-19 and Protracted Conflict'. The third quarter of 2022 saw COVID-19 cases and deaths in Thailand reduced significantly, and high levels of COVID-19 vaccine coverage. COVID-19 was declared an "endemic" disease, and economic activities resumed. This paper reviews pre-pandemic health systems capacity and identifies pandemic response strengths, weaknesses and lessons that guided resilient and equitable health system recovery. Robust health systems and adapti...

Objectives: COVID-19 infection increased nephrology-related risks and mortality rate among end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients. The pandemic also disrupted essential healthcare services. We aim to explore all-cause excess mortality among ESRD patients who were members of the Universal Coverage Scheme (UCS), the largest public health insurance scheme in Thailand covering citizens who are not employed in the formal sector, including children and older persons. Design: A cross-sectional study. Setting We retrieved the dataset from the UC...

Thailand is attempting to implement an effective health insurance scheme to cover all migrant workers in the country. One of the remarkable policies is the Social Security Scheme (SSS). This study aims to assess the equity of SSS coverage among migrant workers in Thailand, sorted by types of businesses (agriculture, services and industrial sectors) and Gross Provincial Product (GPP) per capita. A secondary data analysis on time series cross-sectional data was employed. The dataset comprised: (1) the number of migrant insurees under the SSS; (2)...

Religious mass gatherings can foster contagious disease transmission in the home countries of pilgrims. Thailand has two major Muslim pilgrims: the Hajj and the Dawah. This study aimed to compare their knowledge (K), attitude (A), and self-reported practice (P), and qualitatively evaluate their perceptions regarding the prevention of respiratory infections. A cross-sectional mixed methods study was conducted. Multistage sampling was conducted in Hajj participants, while convenience sampling was used with the Dawah participants at two gathering ...

Language and cultural barriers among migrant workers hamper access to health risk information. This study aims to explore health risk communication structure and processes and identify the communication network of migrant workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Thailand. This study used a parallel mixed-methods design combined with in-depth interviews and questionnaires for social network analysis from November 2020 to June 2021 in the headquarter district of Samut Sakhon, Ranong, and Phuket provinces. We conducted purposive sampling of represe...

Adequate child nutrition is critical to child development, yet child malnutrition is prevalent in crisis settings. However, the intersection of malnutrition and disasters is sparse. This study reviews existing evidence on nutrition responses and outcomes for infants and young children during times of crisis. The scoping review was conducted via two approaches: a systematic search and a purposive search. For the systematic search, two key online databases, PubMed and Science Direct, were utilized. In total, data from 32 studies were extracted an...

Introduction: HIV/AIDS has been one of the world’s most important health challenges in recent history. The global solidarity in responding to HIV/AIDS through the provision of antiretroviral therapy (ART) and encouraging early screening has been proved successful in saving lives of infected populations in past decades. However, there remain several challenges, one of which is how HIV/AIDS policies keep pace with the growing speed and diversity of migration flows. This study therefore aimed to examine the nature and the extent of HIV/AIDS hea...

Background: It is believed that the COVID-19 pandemic might disrupt routine healthcare services. A vulnerable group such as cross-border migrants is of critical concern if the pandemic affects their service utilisation. In this study, we aim to explore the impact of COVID-19 and other related factors on non-COVID-19 service amongst cross-border migrants in Thailand. Methods: We conducted an ecological time-series cross-sectional analysis using secondary data from 2019 to 2022, focusing on insured and non-insured migrants in a unit of a provi...

The COVID-19 pandemic containment measures such as school closures remarkably disrupt the educational system, from in-person learning to remote or distance education with different interventions. This study aimed to identify the characteristics of interventions in remote or distance education during the COVID-19 pandemic and evaluate the outcomes of each intervention. A systematic review was conducted between October 2021 and May 2022 using four databases. Finally, 22 studies met the eligibility criteria and were included for data analysis. Mos...

The outbreak of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has threatened health and well-being in all populations. This impact is also deepening structural inequalities for migrant workers in Thailand. Due to their vulnerability and limited opportunity to access health services, they have greater risks in many health aspects compared to other populations. This qualitative study sought to examine the key health concerns and barriers during the COVID-19 pandemic on healthcare access among migrant workers in Thailand through the lens of policymakers, he...

Thailand is a popular host nation for international migrant workers, particularly those from Cambodia, Lao PDR, and Myanmar. Thailand has introduced approaches to protect their rights for health and social welfare, using various mechanisms over many years. However, the implementation of these policies is dynamic and has been influenced by national security, economic necessity, and public health concerns. The aim of this study was to explore how Thailand designs and implements health and social welfare policies for migrants in Thailand, both bef...

Background: As the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) gears toward full regional integration by 2015, the cross-border mobility of workers and citizens at large is expected to further intensify in the coming years. While ASEAN member countries have already signed the Declaration on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers, the health rights of migrants still need to be addressed, especially with ongoing universal health coverage (UHC) reforms in most ASEAN countries. This paper seeks to examine the inclusion...

Background: In addition to healthcare entitlements, ‘migrant-friendly health services’ in Thailand include interpretation and cultural mediation services which aim to reduce language and cultural barriers between health personnel and migrants. Although the Thai Government started implementing these services in 2003, challenges in providing them still remain. This study aims to analyse the health system functions which support the interpretation and cultural mediation services of migrant health worker (MHW) and migrant health volunteer (MHV) pr...

Cultural competency describes interventions that aim to improve accessibility and effectiveness of health services for people from ethnic minority backgrounds. Interventions include interpreter services, migrant peer educators and health worker training to provide culturally competent care. Very few studies have focussed on cultural competency for migrant service use in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMIC). Migrants and refugees in Thailand and Malaysia report difficulties in accessing health systems and discrimination by service providers. ...