8th National Health Assembly
21 – 23 December 2015
IMPACT Arena Exhibition & Convention Center
Nonthaburi Province, Thailand
The Health Assembly is “a process in which the relevant public and state agencies exchange their knowledge and cordially learn from each other through a participatory and systematically organized forum, leading to recommendations on Healthy Public Policies or Public Healthiness.”
Stipulated in the National Health Act 2007, National Health Assembly (NHA) is one of the most important social mechanisms to facilitate the evidence based policy making with great emphasis on inclusive participation. NHA is therefore a year-round policy process, not a one-time event.
Despite learning from World Health Assembly, the uniqueness of Thailand National Health Assembly lie into the participation of the 3-sector constituencies– government sector, academia and people sector – from agenda setting to implementation, monitoring and evaluation.
This year, the NHA Organizing Committee has decided to convene the 8th National Health Assembly (NHA 8) under the theme of “Synergy of Wisdom and Network, Creation of a Path to Thai Wellbeing” from 21 – 23 December 2015 at IMPACT, Nonthaburi province.
With the four criteria for selection of proposed NHA agenda items that are 1) importance of the issue 2) magnitude of the problem 3) public interest and 4) feasibility of the issue to drive into policy or action, the NHA Organizing Committee had the 5/2557 resolution on 17 September 2015 announcing the preliminary number and issues of the agenda items of NHA 8 as follows.
1. Crisis of antimicrobial resistance and the integrated problem solving
2. Policy on reduced salt and sodium consumption for NCD’s reduction
3. Wellbeing of rice farmers
4. Urban Health: development of participatory health care system in an urban area
5. Revisit of NHA resolution on management of smoke hazes that affecting health
Moreover, ten passed resolutions will be reported the progress of their implementation
1. National policy for health system development in multi-cultural areas (NHA1)
2. Promotion of relationship between patients and their relatives and medical personnel (NHA2)
3. Protection of wellbeing and society from international free trade (NHA3)
4. Mechanism and process of the health assembly (NHA5)
5. Appropriate and necessary national health screening policy for the population (NHA6)
6. The goals of preventing and controlling Non-Communicable Disease in Thailand (NHA6)
7. School catering system management (NHA6)
8. The regulation of media and marketing communication of tobacco and alcohol products (NHA6)
9. Multi-sectoral collaboration for One Health of humans, animals and environment (NHA6)
10. Health system reform under the reform of Thailand (NHA6)
11. Development of health technology assessment and its decision making process (NHA7)
12. Elimination of liver fluke (opisthorchiasis) and bile duct cancer (cholangiocarcinoma) in people (NHA7)
The resolutions from the NHA will be submitted to the National Health Commission which is chaired by the Prime Minister. The Commission will consider taking appropriate actions to achieve the resolutions, including, if necessary, submitting to the Cabinet. Thus it is a combination of using both ‘soft’ social power and power of ‘wisdom’ and the ‘hard’ authoritative power to formulate and implement ‘healthy public policies’.
