24-hour Medical Access For All On The Way: Govt

24-hour medical access for all on the way: Govt

BANGKOK: -- About 1,000 community medical centres will be built around the country over the next four years to ensure every district in the country can offer at least some form of 24-hour-a-day medical treatment.

The plan is part of the Public Health Ministry's mega-project to improve the country's public-health infrastructure from 2006 to 2009, said Dr Pipat Yingseri, the ministry's deputy permanent secretary.

To deliver services similar to hospitals, each community medical centre will have at least one medical doctor, dentist, dental nurse, pharmacist, five to 10 nurses, X-ray technician and medical science officer, he said.

By mid-2006, the ministry expects to have about 80 centres set up and ready for service in 62 provinces at a cost of Bt344 million.

The ministry mega-project recently had funding of about Bt94 billion approved, of which 83 per cent will be used to construct healthcare facilities, Pipat said.

Aside from the construction of community medical centres, the ministry will build about 6,000 community health centres, staffed by nurses, and 35 new community hospitals as well as upgrade existing small and large hospitals nationwide.

--The Nation 2005-10-16