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Published on January 31, 2008

The Public Health Ministry plans to resume a massive Bt100-billion project to upgrade medical services countrywide, a top official said yesterday.

The plan was initiated by the Thaksin Shinawatra government but shelved by the Surayud government.

Bureau of Public Health Strategy and Policy Planning director Dr Suppakij Sirilak said the plan would be implemented over the next five years.

It is now being reviewed by the ministry and would be finalised tomorrow, he said.

"We are revising the plan to see if it is necessary and cost effective," he said.

The plan has three main components to boost medical services.

In the first, the ministry plans to improve healthcare infrastructure by constructing a primary healthcare building and a specialised hospital.

It also plans to establish a medical excellence centre for patients with heart disease, cancer, injuries from road accidents and those suffering from rare diseases.

"After establishing the medical excellence centres at regional areas countrywide, we expect people to gain access to specialised treatment," he said. "People in rural areas need not travel to Bangkok and see physicians at specialised hospitals."

In the second part, the ministry aims to improve disease surveillance to prevent pandemics. Under this plan, all medical workers would be trained to improve knowledge and skills to tackle emerging disease such as Sars and bird flu.

Finally, the ministry wants to generate more manpower to replace retiring staff members. It will also provide scholarships for officers seeking to undertake further studies locally and abroad.

It wants to set up information and technology infrastructure to improve the medical database countrywide to support hospitals and healthcare units.

However, this facet previously faced a corruption scandal over a controversial computer procurement case worth Bt900 million.

Suppakij said: "We believe past experiences will make us more careful about undertaking this project. We hope the new minister will have a clean hand in tackling the scandal and provide assistance to the computer project."

Pongphon Sarnsamak

The Nation