Abstract
An attempt to include “spiritual health” into WHO definition of health has been made since 1980. It was proposed by member states of WHO in Eastern Mediterranean Region. There were both proponents and opponents of the proposal. Finally the Executive Board of WHO has concluded to propose amendment of the definition of health from that “the state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of the disease or infirmity” to “the dynamic state of complete physical, mental, spiritual and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” However, the proposal did not become the resolution at the World Health Assembly. Thus the definition of health remains the same as stated in the preamble of the Constitution of WHO. In Thailand there was a movement to include the “spiritual health” into the definition of health during the campaign on health system reform in the last decade. Such movement brought about strong controversy rooted from some leading Buddhist organizations which rejected the “spiritual dimension” as a concept influenced by theist paradigm which is opposite to Buddhism. Finally, the consensus has been reached to accept the term “intellectual well-being” as the fourth dimension of health. The Health Act B.E. 2007 has then defined health as “the state of human being which is perfect in physical, mental, spiritual and social aspects all of which are holistic in balance.” There are still some problems in the new definition of health concerning the exact meaning of mental and spiritual well-being especially when translates into English. This paper proposed not to try to reach consensus in this issue which is very complicate, since the four dimensions have covered all aspects of health. It also proposed Buddhist way of development of the four dimensions of health as an example. The people in different faith can freely develop or extend their means on the basis of their own faith.
