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Generally, the RTG does not request any international assistance
during emergencies although it accepts offers, especially if timely
assistance is rendered through the UN Country Team (UNCT), of which WHO is an
active member. Likewise, the MOPH never requests any assistance from WHO,
although, the organisation extends its assistance
to the ministry in responding to public health emergencies and crises.
The
priority for the EHA Unit is to play a facilitating and technical advisory
role to various stakeholders in health sector emergency preparedness and
response, and the main partner is the MOPH. Thailand’s EHA-related activities
are spread across various clusters of the MOPH and therefore, there is no clear focal
point in the health sector. The EHA Unit collaborates with the Bureau of Health Service
System Development (HSSD) of the MOPH’s Department
of Health Service Support on emergency and humanitarian assistance-related
issues. Several activities are ongoing.
 Capacity
Assessment: A pilot study on the “Current Situation on Emergency
Preparedness for the Health Sectors and Communities in Phuket Province” was conducted by the Phuket Provincial Public Health Office (PPHO) and WHO
Thailand EHA provided technical assistance. The study revealed that the
overall current situation on emergency preparedness in Phuket
province is good. However, some important issues still need to be
strengthened, including coordination, health information system, disaster
laws including the rules for medical treatment in disaster, management of the
dead and the missing in disaster (MDM), rehearsal/simulation exercise, and
capacity building/training. A specific plan for some disasters that differ in
characteristics and management, such as fires, flooding and mudslides, may be
developed. A countrywide assessment of the “Current Situation on Emergency Preparedness for the Health Sector
and Communities in Thailand”
is ongoing.
Capacity
Building/Training: WHO Thailand EHA works with various stakeholders including the ADPC
in Bangkok.
WHO in collaboration with ADPC organised several capacity building activities
including the Inter-regional
Training Course on Public Health in Emergency Management in Asia
and the Pacific (PHEMAP). The next PHEMAP course will be held in 2008.
UN Country Team (UNCT):WHO Thailand’s EHA Unit joins
various working groups of the UNCT to work on emergency and humanitarian
issues.
 UN Working Group
(WG) on the Five Southernmost Provinces: The provinces affected by violence
are Narathiwat, Pattani, Songkhla, Satun, and Yala. UNCT is closely working with the Royal Thai
Government in improving the situation in southern Thailand where the EHA Unit is
particularly concerned about the health aspects.
 UN Thematic Working Group (TWG) on Livelihood
in Mae Hong Son Province: The TWG initiated a joint programme intervention aligned with human security
development goals; particularly with respect to the social protection and
integration of those without formal recognition by the State, the empowerment
of the people in the underserved area, and the reduction of poverty among the
vulnerable groups in Mae Hong Son. WHO Thailand’s EHA is particularly
concerned with health-related issues, including capacity building of health
personnel. Within the UN Partnership Framework (UNPAF),
WHO Thailand’s EHA Unit is contributing to the Country Programme Outcome
number 1.4 aimed at achieving “Improved livelihood for vulnerable groups in
underserved areas”, as an outcome under the “Access to quality social
services and protection”, a pillar in the UNPAF Results Matrix, and
collaborating with the UN System in Thailand on heath-related issues targeted
at vulnerable groups of humanitarian concern in underserved communities. WHO Thailand’s EHA staff participated
in the “First Workshop on the Proposed UN
Thematic Project on Livelihood Development in Mae Hong Son Province”, organized
by the Provincial Governor’s Office in collaboration with relevant provincial
offices and the UNCT Thailand, held in the
Mae Hong Son provincial town from 28 to 30 January 2008 in developing a joint
project proposal targeted at vulnerable groups in underserved communities in
Mae Hong Son, to be submitted to the UN Trust Funds for Human Security
(UNTFHS) for funding support. The workshop was attended by 27 senior
officials (Chiefs) of various Provincial and District offices and 19
officials from 8 UN agencies (FAO, ILO, UNDP, UNFPA, UNHCR, UNICEF, UNIDO,
and WHO) and IOM. WHO has been identified as the lead UN agency in providing
technical support for expected outputs related to primary health care
services, school health and nutrition.
UN Disaster
Management Team (DMT): WHO works closely with UNDP, UNOCHA, UNICEF,
UNISDR and other agencies.
UN Task Force on
Displaced Hmong in Phetchabun Province: WHO Thailand’s EHA was part of a
joint UN (UNFPA, UNICEF, WFP and WHO) needs assessment mission to Phetchabun in July 2006 and it looked into health-related
issues.
Tsunami Recovery Impact Assessment
Monitoring System (TRIAMS): The 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami
claimed thousands of lives and left thousands of families homeless in many
countries (Bangladesh, Indonesia, Kenya,
Malaysia, the Maldives, Myanmar,
the Seychelles, Somalia, Sri
Lanka, Tanzania
and Thailand).
The Tsunami that struck Thailand
was the greatest natural disaster in the country’s history. It affected 25
districts, 95 subdistricts (tambons,
in Thai), and 407 villages, of which 47 were destroyed, in 6 provinces of Southern Thailand. These provinces were Krabi, Phang-nga, Phuket, Ranong, Satun and Trang. The most
severely affected provinces were Krabi, Phang-nga and Phuket. The
Tsunami was followed by an outpouring of national and international efforts
to support the recovery process.
Several projects were initiated by various international agencies
including the WHO. The need for an effective monitoring and evaluation
systems at all levels has been recognised from the
outset of the recovery programme. An effort led by
WHO and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
(IFRC) to support TRIAMS was instrumental in the monitoring systems at the
local and national levels. The 1st Regional TRIAMS workshop was held in May
2006 in Bangkok.
Under the TRIAMS initiative, key indicators were discussed and agreed to
among the five most affected countries (India, Indonesia, the Maldives, Sri
Lanka and Thailand); A draft work plan with the government commitment to run
the TRIAMS activities under the leadership of the Department of Disaster
Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM), Ministry of Interior (MOI), Thailand, with
clear targets, was presented in the Bangkok TRIAMS workshop report. WHO
Thailand EHA is working closely with the DDPM and MOPH at the central and
provincial levels to provide technical assistance in executing projects in the six tsunami
affected provinces. Several activities were conducted including the
following:
National TRIAMS workshop held
in Phuket on 9 March 2007, jointly organised by the Provincial Public Health Office of Phuket, DDPM and WHO Thailand.
Regional TRIAMS workshop organised in Bangkok
from 21 to 23 March 2007, jointly organised by the
IFRC, WHO and the United Nations Development Programme.
Follow-up workshop on TRIAMS
held in Krabi on 26 July 2007, jointly organised by the DDPM, Mahidol University
in Bangkok
and WHO Thailand.
Consultative Meeting for
Policy-Makers on TRIAMS held in Krabi on 27 July
2007, jointly organised by the DDPM, Mahidol University in Bangkok,
and WHO Thailand.
Global Information System
(GIS) training of local health personnel from the tsunami-affected provinces
was held in Ratchaburi from 2 to 6 July 2007, organised by Mahidol University
and supported by WHO.
WHO Disability Assessment Schedule (WHO DAS II), Quality of Life
(QOL) Assessment Instrument, and Mental Health Household Survey conducted in
the six tsunami-affected provinces in collaboration
with Mahidol University with the WHO support.
Overlapping
Areas between EHA and Border Health: The EHA
team is supporting WHO Thailand’s Border Health (BH) programme especially along
the Thai-Myanmar border. The BH programme focuses its activities on
improving the health of the population by improving coordination,
strengthening data collection, building capacity and sharing
information. Particular emphasis is placed on the health of vulnerable
population groups such as undocumented migrants living outside the camps.
Climate
Change and Human Health: Climate change currently
contributes to the global burden of disease and premature deaths. Human
beings are exposed to climate change through changing weather patterns
(temperature, precipitation, sea level rise and more frequent extreme events)
and indirectly through changes in water, air and food quality as well as
changes in ecosystems, agriculture, industry, settlements and the economy.
Projected trends in climate change-related exposures of importance to human
health will: (i) increase malnutrition and
consequently disorders, (ii) increase the number of people suffering from
diseases and injuries from heat waves, floods, storms, fires and droughts
(disasters); (iii) increase the burden of diarrhoeal diseases; (iv) result in
a mixed effect on malaria; (v) increase cardio-respiratory morbidity and
mortality associated with ground-level ozone; and (vi) increase the number of
people at risk of dengue. WHO Thailand is concerned about the effects of
climate change and environmental heath-related issues. In March 2007, the RTG
declared its northernmost province
of Chiang Rai
a disaster zone after brush and forest fires had produced intense smog and
smoke. WHO coordinated with the various departments and divisions of the MOPH
in responding to the crises due to forest fires and haze in northern Thailand.
Recently, WHO Thailand EHA staff attended the “Regional Workshop on Climate
Change and Human Health in South-East Asia: From Evidence to Action” held in Bali, Indonesia,
from 10 to 12 December 2007, organised by WHO SEARO.
WHO Thailand’s EHA Unit serves as the focal point for emergency environmental health including
climate change.
Disability, Injury
Prevention and Rehabilitation: WHO Thailand’s EHA Unit closely works with the Injury Control Cluster, Bureau of
Non-communicable Diseases (NCD), Department of Disease Control (DDC), MOPH, and the WHO Collaborating
Centre for Injury Prevention and Health Promotion in Khon
Kaen province and the Narenthorn
Centre for Emergency Medical Services in Thailand.
EHA Unit also serves as the focal point on Disability, Injury
Prevention and Rehabilitation (DPR) in WHO Thailand.
Multi-country
Activities (MCA): WHO Thailand’s EHA programme supports EHA-related
activities in DPR Korea, Timor Leste and Myanmar
including organising study tours for government delegates working in these
countries.
WHO Thailand’s
EHA Unit is responsible for implementation of entire MCA of WHO 2008-2009 activity
plan, and serves as the focal point for MCA.
2008–2009 World Disaster Reduction Campaign:Hospitals
Safe from Disasters –Reduce
Risk, Protect Health Facilities, Save Lives: A
campaign by the WHO & the UN/ISDR secretariat with support from the World
Bank. The regional launch of the campaign was organised
by WHO (SEARO
and WPRO) and UNISDR in Asia and the Pacific, on 25 January 2008 in Bangkok, Thailand.
WHO Thailand’s EHA Unit collaborated with WHO SEARO, WPRO EHA Units and UNISDR
and assisted in launching it. A Regional Task Force on Safe
Hospital (RTF/SH) under WHO and ISDR leadership and a working
group (WG) was formed in developing implementation arrangements of the
campaign in Asia and the Pacific region. Representatives of the EHA Units in WHO
SEARO, WPRO and WHO Thailand joined the launch and RTF/SH.
IASC
Humanitarian Network for Asia and the Pacific: WHO Thailand’s EHA Unit serves as agency
focal point in the Inter Agency Standing Committee (IASC) network for WHO
(SEARO and WPRO) and represents as the Health Cluster Lead. The
EHA Unit also joins the IASC Humanitarian Network for Asia
and the Pacific monthly meetings in improving coordination and information
exchange among humanitarian partners at the regional level and regularly
provides updates on health cluster lead activities in both regions. Recently, the EHA Unit
collaborated with the EHA Units of SEARO and WPRO in organising the Joint
Asia-Pacific Informal Meeting of Health Emergency Partners and Nursing
Stakeholders from 25 to 27 October 2007 in Bangkok. The meeting was organised by WHO
and IOM.
WHO Thailand’s EHA
Unit is serving as the WHO non-cluster specific
focal point for IASC Humanitarian Network for Asia-Pacific and coordinates with
various health and non-health partners; joining IASC Humanitarian Network
for Asia-Pacific monthly meetings; collaborating
with WHO SEARO and WHO WPRO and serving as the cluster lead for health including coordination of health
partners in the Asia-Pacific region; and joining other health-related regional cluster lead meetings
on water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) with UNICEF; food security and
nutrition with UNICEF/WFP; HIV with UNAIDS; gender with UNIFEM; and the
environment with UNEP.
WHO Thailand’s EHA Unit is also a member of the regional
WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) cluster network led by UNICEF.
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WHO Thailand developed the Country
Cooperation Strategy (CCS) for 2008 to 2011 and identified
seven strategic agenda which set out priorities jointly agreed for WHO
cooperation in and with the country, based on the 2008–2013 WHO Medium-term Strategic Plan (MTSP).
The CCS contains 13 strategic objectives.
Among them, Strategic Objective 5 (Reduce the health consequences of emergencies, disasters, crises and
conflicts, and minimise their social and economic impact) is specific to the
EHA-related programmes of WHO Thailand.In addition, Strategic Objective 6,
dealing with the empowerment of local organisations in promoting
environmental health and surveillance of environmental hazards, is very much
linked to the EHA programme.
Strategic Objective 5, basically,encompasses the following aspects: health sector emergency
preparedness, intersectoral action for risk and
vulnerability reduction within the framework of the International Strategy on
Disaster Reduction, response to the health needs (including nutrition as well
as water and sanitation) of emergencies and crises, needs assessment of
affected populations, transition and recovery health actions in post-conflict
and post-disaster situations, fulfilling the mandate of WHO within the
framework of Humanitarian Reform, global alert and response system for
environmental and food safety-related public health emergencies,
threat-specific risk reduction along with preparedness and response
programmes for such emergencies.
Within this objective, several
EHA-related activities have been planed in collaboration with officials of relevant departments,
specifically, the Department of Health Service Support, MOPH, which works on
emergency and humanitarian issues. The draft EHA
activity plan for 2008–2009 is available at WHO Thailand.
the SEARO EHA Electronic Regional News Update, click here and
other SEARO publications such as From Vulnerability to Preparedness, click here.
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