Abstract
The National Universal Health Coverage Conference 2023: Review the past and declare the future (National UHC Conference 2023) was conducted on 12-13 December 2023. The Conference aimed to facilitate academic exchange among related agencies and foster the creation and management of knowledge in improving Thai Universal Health Coverage (UHC) across all stages of the conference: pre-conference, conference, and post-conference. This event also served as a key platform for contributing to developing a robust healthcare system in the country. Furthermore, the conference capitalized on the global momentum of International UHC Day during this period. This study describes knowledge creation and management activities for the National UHC Conference 2023. The pre-conference phase involved preparing data for the conference by reviewing the current situation and challenges faced in implementing UHC in Thailand. The conference phase involved gathering insights from brainstorming sessions held by subgroups of participants. The post-conference phase involved summarizing key information, preparing the meeting report and policy briefs including policy recommendations. The review of the current situation of Thailand’s UHC identified six key areas: 1) Increasing population coverage, 2) Health promotion and disease prevention, 3) Healthcare service improvement, 4) Long-term care (LTC), 5) Primary care service, and 6) Financial Sustainability responding to the challenges facing Thailand's healthcare system. Findings within these 6 key areas served as inputs for the National UHC Conference 2023 and the foundation for discussions. Participants engaged in brainstorming sessions to address the following: challenges, recommendations, and research priorities in the field of UHC in Thailand. Policy recommendations based on the conference Call to Actions emphasis the following key points: to agree to work together within and across sectors and disciplines in translating policy intentions – guided by evidence – into concrete actions; to support Thailand as a learning hub to share experiences with other developing countries for the mutual benefit of improving UHC systems; and to decide to convene the Thailand UHC conference on an annual basis for monitoring.
