Global health is defined as health issues that transcend national boundaries. This notion implies a shared global responsibility for health and is associated with actors beyond country government. In WHO South-East Asia Region (SEAR), the Regional Committee adopted a resolution in 2010 to enco

Achieving universal health coverage (UHC) requires policy initiatives supported by long-term system reform and an accountable governance structure that can sustainably deliver all three dimensions of UHC, population coverage, breadth of benefits package, and degree of financial coverag

“United we stand, divided we fall” is a Thai idiom used to exemplify the importance of staying united and of teamwork and common interests. This idiom is reaffirmed in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, shown in the global nature of catastrophe and the shared prospects of recovery. However, p

Sedentary behavior and physical inactivity increase the risks of non-communicable diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases, which contribute to approximately 70% of all-cause mortality among Thais. There is a misunderstanding that exercise in leisure time can n

Digital health is an umbrella term that includes all healthcare services that are provided by ICT. From one’s personal wearable devices to the use of big data and AI in healthcare come under digital health’ Under the umbrella of digital health technology, various sub-groups such as electronic

Thailand has successfully implemented economic evaluation to inform the inclusion of new, branded medicines within its National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM). This method can be used to assess the health value that new medicines will generate for patients after accounting for the health los

The Cancer Drug Fund (CDF) is a dedicated source of funding in England for increasing patient access to high-cost cancer drugs, with a fixed budget of £340 million per year, operating since 2016. The CDF follows the appraisal by the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) whic

This policy brief provides a summary of a recent review of the definition of rare diseases, high cost and how HTA has been used in the case of rare diseases in seven countries. The countries were purposively selected based on them having established HTA policies and availability of resources in the

Because of their rarity, rare diseases are often treated with what the industry refers to as ‘orphan drugs’. These group of drugs are quite expensive because of the fewer number of people suffering from such sickness and usually provide low profit to manufacturer compared to other common drug for n

Spouses of heart attack victims have an increased risk of depression and anxiety, even if their partner survives, Danish research suggests.The study found that in the year after losing a spouse to a heart attack, partners were three times more likely to start taking anti-depressants.Even if their pa