Quantum leap : the reform of Thailand's health system

Abstract

Title: Quantum Leap: the Reform of Thailand’s Health SystemsResearcher: Wiput PhoolcharoenFunding Health Systems Research InstituteYear 2004Health system and policy research was a key element in the drafting of Thailand’sNational Health Act and it has led to significant advances in understanding the philosophy, architecture and alignment of the evolving health system’s alliances. Political commitment has played a vital role in facilitating the holistic health system reform and has allowed Thai society to be turned into an interdisciplinary and comprehensive laboratory for health policy research. Partnerships in health system reform were essential in generating knowledge, which in turn could then be translated into public health benefits. The governance and administrative mechanisms of the visionary health system were developed through the collaborative research process. This has led to the development of the trend of ongoing policy reform based on demands and innovations coming from participatory research carried out by a broad array of partners.The National Health System Reform Committee set up four subcommittees -social mobilization, technical, law drafting and public communication - comprised of researchers, the civil network, policymakers and members of the mass media whose objective was to design the blueprint of the new health system. After three years of extensive collaborative research, it was decided (with the consensus of all participants) that the health system should be made up of eight components - health governance, health promotion, health hazard control, health services, health research, health information,consumer empowerment and health manpower.Health research has thus been recognized as one of the creative components of the health system. It has also been granted legislative power by virtue of it being incorporated into the National Health Act, which is about to be submitted to the Thai Parliament. Moreover, all of the other components of the health system are heavily dependent on health policy and system research because they are, by definition, evolving evidence-based systems.Health research has played a pivotal role not only in the drafting of the National Health Act but also in the detailed design, implementation and evaluation of each of the eight components of the new health system. Only research can unify the differing needs and demands of policymakers and the civil society. To carry out the required research as effectively as possible, multisectoral research alliances are being created for each of the subsystems. The alliances are deemed essential to the successful implementation of Thailand’s visionary health system.Health research management is the essential link between researchers and users of research. Research managers will build and sustain the required alliances and coalitions, oversee the research projects, manage funding and resource mobilization and monitor and evaluate research. The management of health research will ensure that all research is relevant to all the related parties.In conclusion, health research, its coordination and its management are the foundation and driving force behind the proof of the need to reform the health system in Thailand. The findings of health research is an integral part in drafting the NationalHealth Act. Health research has proven to be even more important in probing, implementing,monitoring and evaluating the new health system. Thus, it has been recognizedas the motivating force for health system reform.