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Published on December 1, 2007

Speaking during the transfer ceremony yesterday, Public Health Minister Dr Mongkol na Songkhla said the move aimed to provide better healthcare services to local people, and that all 8,513 primary healthcare units across the country would be transferred gradually.

There would be no more primary healthcare units left under the ministry by 2010, he added.

Not all the units can be transferred at the same time, he said, as there are certain criteria the units have to meet to guarantee they can operate without supervision from the ministry.

After the transfer, local administration organisations must issue their own public-health policies and implementation plans, including human-resource administration.

Meanwhile, the Public Health Ministry will subsidise 35 per cent of local administrations' budgets for public health.

The transfer plan is part of the 1999 Decentralisation Act to enable local authorities to efficiently manage natural resources, the environment and public services to provide better quality of life for local people.

Sinchai Kiewkhaew, chief of the Bang-Nom-Kho healthcare unit in Ayutthaya's Senah district, said it would be a positive step for the local administrations to operate public health units independently, as the they could issue and implement suitable health policies for local residents.

However, the transfer has triggered concern among healthcare workers. Wichai Pinkhaew, chief of a primary healthcare unit in Koh Kha district of Lampang province, said he wanted the ministry to provide legal protection for all health workers in case of medical malpractice complaints as the local organisations did not offer them such protection.

Pongphon Sarnsamak

 The Nation