BMA Has Wide-Reaching Plan To Make Bangkok A Healthier City

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SMART BANGKOK

BMA has wide-reaching plan to make Bangkok a healthier city

By Patcharee Lueng-uthai

The Nation

The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration has unveiled an aggressive plan to make the capital more healthy next year, with significant development of health centres and hospitals under the BMA's supervision as well as new initiatives for being a smarter city with more efficient treatment and healthcare services.

Pirapong Saicheua, deputy permanent secretary for the BMA, said it had earlier restructured health services by upgrading both health centres and community hospitals. All 68 Bangkok health centres have received health centre accreditation (HCA) while six hospitals received certified hospital quality assurance and accreditation (HA). The remaining three hospitals are in the final assessment process.

Next year, the BMA will stress development of all the hospitals to become excellent centres providing specialists in all fields. Vajira Hospital and Charoenkrung Pracharak Hospital are expected to open heart centres next year. There are already some specialist centres, including the emergency centre at Sirindhorn Hospital, the diabetes centre at Taksin Hospital and the eye centre at Klang Hospital.

As well, Charoenkrung Pracharak Hospital has high recognition in laparoscopic (minimally invasive) surgery with more than 30 years of experience. The BMA is planning to establish a sports medicine therapy and rehabilitation centre, which is scheduled for completion in the three years. In addition, the hospital aims to open a burn centre, with specialised facilities for managing major burn injuries, and an autistic centre.

Klang Hospital plans to open a city lab as a modern diagnosis centre equipped with advanced technology.

"Another major project is the elderly rehabilitation centre and hospital in Bang Khunthien district. It is located on 34 rai with an investment cost of more than Bt1.8 billion," said Pirapong. "The project will provide a hospital, rehabilitation centre, training and research centre and mobile comprehensive rehabilitation service. The BMA expects to start a construction next month and complete it in the next three years. This will be a crucial move to prepare for the coming ageing society."

The BMA is planning to adopt information technology to integrate data of the health centres and hospitals. The administration is developing a minimum data set (MDS) as the health database and also initiating integrated patient health records for all of the hospitals.

Moreover, the BMA is creating a specialist pool among the nine hospitals enabling specialists to treats patients in facilities other than their own. This would make specialists mobile to help solve the lack of specialists in some hospitals.

Meanwhile, the BMA is setting up the Bangkok Emergency Medical Service Centre (Erawan Centre) at Klang Hospital. The BMA previously integrated various emergency centres into a single unit and then upgraded it as a division. The centre will act as a war room to manage almost 200 emergency vehicles. It will also provide both basic and advanced training for emergency officers to help save people's lives before they reach a hospital.

Pirapong said the BMA would also make aggressive moves to control rabies. The administration is discussing with all concerned parties, including veterinary-medicine faculties, veterinarian clinics and the Livestock Development Department to evaluate the capacity to provide vaccination and sterilisation.

Besides the measure to control the population of stray dogs in Bangkok, the BMA plans to set up a dog-registration system, using Chatuchak Market for a pilot project. All animal vendors will be required to trace dogs back to their breeders. Buyers will also be identified, enabling the BMA to contact them directly with health alerts.

-- The Nation 2010-12-11

[bkkjames]

And stupid me thought this news was going to be about banning cars, collecting trash, making more green spaces...

[Valentine]

And stupid me thought this news was going to be about banning cars, collecting trash, making more green spaces...

My thoughts exactly. How about making it so that there will be less need for all those upgraded medical facilities. Cart before the horse springs to mind.

[bkkdawg]

And stupid me thought this news was going to be about banning cars, collecting trash, making more green spaces...

My thoughts exactly. How about making it so that there will be less need for all those upgraded medical facilities. Cart before the horse springs to mind.

A good start would be to get rid of those crappy old red buses that spew black smoke into the city air. Those are the bane of this city.

[elshaheen]

For the last few days, Bangkok reminded me so much like Los Angeles or Bejing. Smog.

So, just how does the grandmaster BMA governor plan to solve this? Come on, oh wise and gifted wizard of Thailand. Oh, don't forget to pull the curtain closed behind you.

[jayjay0]

Kinda putting the cart in front of the horse isn't it.

To the best of my understanding Bangkok is sinking. Might want to do some thing like look in to it.

[asiawatcher]

And stupid me thought this news was going to be about banning cars, collecting trash, making more green spaces...

My thoughts exactly. How about making it so that there will be less need for all those upgraded medical facilities. Cart before the horse springs to mind.

A good start would be to get rid of those crappy old red buses that spew black smoke into the city air. Those are the bane of this city.

Imagine how much they would save their hospitals by reducing the respiratory diseases from pollution by their transport department? And then of course, replace the drivers with educated ones in road rules that understand Keep Left (in right hand drive countries) and then they would not have the populace at risk from being run down by idiots who stop the buses in the centre lanes allowing passengers to play Russian Roulette with passing traffic. Then again you have the poor expressway booth operators who have to suck it up daily for their shifts and don't realise the damage they are doing to themselves - but maybe that is why the BMA is addressing hospitals - to house their employees in the future.

Edited December 11, 2010 by asiawatcher

[brahmburgers]

It's Thai bureaucracy, so it has to look to the money first. Hospitals = potential money coming in. Sex-change operations are probably a significant portion of that.

What monetary gain is there in cutting down gridlock, creating parks, bicycle lanes, jogging routes, etc. Plus, in a population known for never complaining, why bother with cutting down noise or visual intrusions (?), most of which revolves around making money. I stopped coming to Bkk several years ago when I got stuck waiting for a bus, and the smog and noise attacks almost did me in. I got depressed deeper and quicker standing on that sidewalk than anywhere else I can think of. Shopping, for anyone who appreciates decent music (which I do) can be a painful experience anywhere in Bangkok. I only go to the city when I can't avoid it - like to catch a plane - but I rarely go on plane flights any more because I don't like contributing to burning thousands of gallons of jet fuel.

Let Bkk slowly slip in to the mud of the encroaching bay, I won't shed a tear.

[gemini81]

did it ever dawn on them prevention is better than cure? or is that not profit?

[AleG]

Air quality improvement should be the No.1 priority. Going out from Suvarnabhumi it's unbelievable to see how the plane punches through the blanket of smog, the first 500 or so meters looks the usual grey atmosphere and then bam!, clear blue skies.

No.2 should be unchecked pollution on the water ways and drainage. People simply dump anything down the drains; this morning I walked around Chinatown, between Hua Lamphong and Khlong Thom Center, there are many machanic/machine shops around the area and you see how they just dispose of old motor oil and who knows what other chemicals in the sewers.