1. Current Development of
School Health Promotion
in Thailand
By
Dr. Charuaypon TORRANIN
Permanent Secretary, MOE, Thailand
Intercountry Workshop on School
Health Promotion
Held by WHO SEARO
12 - 15 December 2006
Siam City Hotel, Bangkok, THAILAND
1

2. 10 Thai Health Indicators
(Source: Thai Health 2006,Institute for Population and Social Research, Mahidol University)
1. Dental Health
-More than 6.6 million
rural children under 12 years
of age experienced tooth decay,
but most have not been treated.
-Sugar in children milk and snacked
are increasingly consumed.
2

3. 10 Thai Health Indicators
2. Unintended Pregnancy
-Every year about 300,000 women
have unintended pregnancies.
-Abortion and child abandonment :
neglected problems need attention.
-AIDS prevalence is rising among Thai
teenagers.
3

4. 10 Thai Health Indicators
3.Nutrition
-More than 100,000 children aged
6-14 in Bangkok eat western fast
food every day.
-An alarming sign is found on
obesity and high blood pressure in
students grades1-6
4

5. 10 Thai Health Indicators
4.Alcohol and tobacco
 Alcoholism has increased, with 4.1%
of Thais now addicted to alcohol.
 A Statistical Office survey on
smoking habits found that 11.3
million Thais aged 15 and older
smoke.
5

6. 10 Thai Health Indicators
5.Exercise
In 2004, only one in three
Thais exercised 3-5 days per
week.
6

7. 10 Thai Health Indicators
6.Universal Health Insurance
 More Thai people are using health
services. Health resources are used
more effectively.
 Patients suing doctors:
jeopardizing the doctor-patient
relationship is increasing.
7

8. 10 Thai Health Indicators
7. Mental Health of Thai Children
 Only 30% of children feel that their
parents love and care for them, while
more than 600,000 children have
mental health disorders requiring
treatment.
 3,913 Thais attempted to kill
themselves.(91,633 or 42% are aged
15-24.) 8

9. 10 Thai Health Indicators
8.Traffic Accidents
 Traffic accidents claim the lives of at least
40 Thais a day.( Children aged 0-10years
12.8%,11-20 yrs 27.7%)
 Drink driving, not wearing seatbelts, and
not wearing motorbikes helmets are still
important causes of traffic injuries among
teenagers.
 Groups of teenage males race their
motorbikes at crazy speeds, competing for
money or girls. 9

10. 10 Thai Health Indicators
9.Children,Television and Education
 Children spend 4-6 hours per day watching
television program with no educational
content.
 A new way of rating television programs is
proposed in 2007
 The new Hope: ETV (Education TV run
by Ministry of Education)
10

11. 10 Thai Health Indicators
10. Family Life
 Seventeen% of married women, or about
2.9 million women, are in marriage where
the partners did not choose each other
freely.
 2,093 teenage violence incidents were
reported in the year 2005.
- Instant credit services and their tricks draw
children aged 15-18 yrs to be new easy buy
customers.
11

12. School Violence Report : Jan-Sep2006
(From Basic Education Commission Office)
 Juvenile Crimes 11
 Accidents Injured 146, Death 58
 Sexual Harassment 25
 Attacks Injured 11, Death 17
 Suicides 5
 Bullying/conflicts Injured 15, Death 2
 TOTAL 290 12

13. Thailand Healthy Schools Analysis
Strength Weakness
1.Health Ed built in 1. Low priority
Curriculum 2.Limited qualified teachers
2.Health issues are 3.Limited learning materials
national agenda
Opportunity Threats
1.Strong Health related 1. Facing new Diseases
agencies partnership 2. Social risky behaviors
2.Health security provided
For Basic health service 13

14. ols
3 Components are focused
Health Program
Students counseling
Individual Health Record
Special Projects under MOE Policy
ol Health Service
Accident Insurance
First aid clinic
Vaccinations
th Education --> Focus on Life Skills
14

15. Key Success Strategies for
Thai Healthy Schools Programs
1. Setting Children Health Issue Priorities
2. Set up Health Issues as National Agenda
3. Find Networking/Partnership
4. Law reinforcement
5. Knowledge Management (KM) as pace
maker/progress reporter/new innovator prime
mover
6. Use of ICT for student learning tool
15

16. 1. Setting Health Issues Priorities
 National Health Systems Reform Office
- Health Status Monitoring
- Health Organizations Reengineering
Analysis
- Legislations Analysis
- Problem Issues Priorities Setting
16

17. 2. Set up as National Agenda:
National Agenda: National Committee,
National Plan, Allocated Budget, Assigned
Cooperating Agency
 1. Drug abuse and narcotics prevention
 2. Alcohol and tobacco
 3. AIDS/HIV
 4. Safety ( Road safety, Disasters, etc.)
 5. Health Promotion ( Healthy Thailand)
17

18. THAI MOE Policies and Budgets
To achieve national agenda, MOE has to set up
Ministry Health Policies, Committee,
Plan, and Budget
 1. Narcotics Prevention ( including Alcohol
and Tobacco)
 2. AIDS/HIV
 3. Healthy Schools, Healthy Thailand
 4. School Safety
 5. Sports Promotion 18

19. 3. Find Networking/Partnership
Health Related Networking Agencies
- Ministry of Public Health
-Thai Health Organization
-National Health Security Office
-National Health Systems Reform Office
-Office of the Narcotics Control Board
(Ministry of Justice)
19

20. 3. Find Networking/Partnership
MOE–MOPH
 1. Department of Health Service (Anamai)
-A health promoting school as a healthy
setting for living, learning and working
- Oral Health Promotion & Prevention
In School Children
20

21. 3. Find Networking/Partnership
MOE–MOPH
Health program Partnership
2.Department of Mental Health
-To Be No.1 : Youth leadership activities
-Teachers Training on mental health
- School Violence Coping
-On line Youth Counseling
21

22. 3. Find Networking/Partnership
MOE–MOPH
Health program Partnership
3.Dept of Food and Drug Administration
- Training Children for Food Quality
Control and Inspection
- School lunch safety control
22

23. 3. Find Networking/Partnership
MOE–MOPH
Health program Partnership
4. Department of Medical Services
- Teacher training on drug addict
treatment and prevention
23

24. 3. Find Networking/Partnership
MOE–MOPH
Health program Partnership
5.Department of Disease Control
-HIV/Aids program & Budget
- Teachers’ seminar, training, and
workshops on Disease Control
24

25. 3. Find Networking/Partnership
MOE–MOPH
Health program Partnership
6. Department of Health Service Support
- Monitoring & Follow up by on-line
reporting on Drugs Control Records
25

26. 3. Find Networking/Partnership
MOE–MOPH
Health program Partnership
7. Permanent Secretary Office, MOPH
- Developing 10th National Health
Development Plan (2007-2011)
- Healthy Thailand, Healthy Schools
26

27. 4. Legislations and Law
Reinforcement
 Smoking Act: No smoking in certain areas
 Alcohol Act: selling alcohol to children under18 is
forbidden, No alcohol Billboards 500 meters from
schools, No alcohol advertisements on TV during
5:00A.M. to 20:00P.M.
 Children Protection Act : Parents responsibilities
to assist children free from smoking, alcohol, sex
harassment, etc.
27

28. 5. Knowledge Management as pace
maker/progress reporter/new
innovator
Thai Health Organization
- Financial support for health promotion
programs and projects
- Knowledge Management for public
access to health information
28

29. 6. ICT for Health Learning
 Makingthe Knowledge World
Connection for Health and Student
Achievement through ICT
Management.
29

30. THINK Thailand Model | Modernized Educational Contents
•Content Management •Technology driven
•Content Distribution • Community-based (Sharing)
•Regulations •Alive
•Registration Learning • Animated
•Local link Learning Environment • Dynamic
•Evaluation Management • Interactive
•Assessment
•Global outreach
Modernized
Educational
Learning Contents
Process Contents
• Brain-Based • Research-Based
• Problem based • Self education/ • Learning Objects
• Project-Based Learner centered • Self creation
• Compatibility/
• Blended learning • Learning-by-doing
(Constructionism)
open standards
• 24 hr. learning • Customizable
(Traditional + • Knowledge management
E-learning) (Anytime/Anywhere/Anyone) • Curriculum/ Instruction
• Professional • Industrial-school link • e-Library
Development 30

31. School health program as part of External Q.A. by Office of
National Educational Standards and Quality Assessment
No Standards
Poor Fair Good
Student Performance
1 Desirable ethics and morale 1.48 29.28 69.24
4 7.83 65.12 27.05
Critical and creative thinking
5 Essential learning skills 16.44 51.44 32.12
6 Learning how to search for 4.06 56.16 39.78
Knowledge
9 Working skills for career 64.17
1.23 34.60
preparation
10 Physical and mental health 0.52 13.89 58.59
12 Sports, arts, and music 2.22 28.45 69.33
appreciation 31

32. Healthy THAILAND : Best Practice for
Integrated Project for Health Promotion
Strategic Roadmap Yr 2005 to 2017 (17 Goals)
1. I.Q.and E.Q. 10. Mental Health
2.Exercise 11. Less Crimes and Violence
3.Life Skills 12. Adequate Earning for Living
4.Happy Family 13. Safety Environment
5.Long mortality 14. Free from Risky Behaviors
6.Basic Health Security 15. Neighborhood
7.Safety Food 16. Peace and Harmony
8.Free from Cigarettes and Alcohol
9.Accidents Safety 17.Religious and Culture
32

33. The Strength of the Nation to Overcome
Drug Program : Most Effective Strategy for
Schools Health Promotion
-National Agenda Approach (Strong leadership
from the Government)
-Public Campaign ( Public support)
-Cross ministerial project ( Multi factors
integrated Management)
-Special financial Support
(Adequate budget and bonus for the winner)
33

34. WHO Technical Meeting
on School Health
Venue: Canada
Time: Early June 2007
School Target Groups: Students 10-24 yrs
http://www.mayeticvillage.com/who-6gchp
Email add: torranin@yahoo.com
34

35. Proposed Titles for the Technical
Meeting on School Health
 Encompass the following :
-Health -Education-Partnerships-For all
 Proposed Titles :
 School Health Promotion: building
partnerships for young people's health,
educational achievement and social
development.
 Investment in Schools: Partnerships for
Health, Achievement and Development 35

36. Timeline for the Technical Programme:
 1. Identify topics for papers and track leaders nominate
authors. 30th November 06
 2. Comments from Steering Committee
8th December 06
 3. Commissioning of Papers 20th December 06
 4. Identification of Participants 31st January 07
 5. Identification of Reviewers Submission of Papers
14th March 07
 6. Review of Papers and Comments to Authors
30th April 07
 7. Finalize Revisions 14th May 07
 8. Papers to all Participants 22nd May 07 36

37. Technical Meeting Structure:
 Evening prior to day 1: Social event (to be
confirmed)
 Day 1: Opening and up to 2 keynotes (am);
Track 1 (pm).
 Day 2: Track 2 (am); Field Visits (pm)
i.e. Participants visit local Canadian Educational
Establishments and Track Leaders can discuss
the issues that will be covering during closing.
 Day 3: Track 3 (am); Track 4 (pm).
 Day 4: Track 5 (am); Closing (pm) i.e. Joint
statement, what is next.
37

38. Track Structure
 Plenary (e.g. State-of- the art of the individual
tracks and overview of tracks).
 5 topic areas in parallel sessions.
 The Technical Meeting Program participants
will be sub-divided into 5 discussion groups in
each of the half days, so papers will need to be
grouped or discussions organized in a different
way for each of the tracks.
 Total number of papers - 27 : 2 keynotes
Estimated 5 papers on each of the 5 tracks. 38

39. Track 1- Consolidating evidence of impact of
HPS and other school-community programmes
 a-Strong data base of effectiveness on school health in
high income countries in the topics of nutrition,
sexuality, physical activity, drugs, mental health, and 4
of the 6 areas of the HPS/CSH, namely, school policies,
the schools physical environment, skill and knowledge
acquisition, and health services.
 b-There is promising emerging evidence on the schools
social environment and some on community
partnerships.
 c-The evidence is mostly from high-income countries,
there is very little or no evidence from middle and low-
income countries;
 d-The work being done by IUHPE and others
collecting and analyzing the evidence of effectiveness of
the former constitute a solid background and point of 39
reference.

40. Track 2: Understanding implementation of
HPS and other school-community programs
At country level:
 1. Situation analysis: needs and resource assessment
 2. National mandate and Vision: the role of Ministry
of Health and Ministry of Education
 3. Leadership: dedicated time and resources, policy
development
 4. Advocacy: gaining buy-in of major stakeholders
 5. Partnerships: roles and responsibilities of various
sectors within countries
 6. Administrative support
 7. Data-driven planning and decision-making
40

41. Track 2: At country level:
 8. Stages of readiness and fit of interventions
 9. Macro-policy and economic environment
 10. Curriculum development or selection: the intricacies
of curriculum development for intra-and extra-curricular
activities
 11. Training: Pre-service and in-service teacher
development, ongoing coaching
 12. Fidelity: adaptation to local concerns, attention to
external forces
 13. Evaluation: process and outcomes; contribution of
HPS to the global development framework and MDGs
 14. Sustainability: long-term planning, ownership,
partnerships, scaling up; how to achieve sustainability
and scale of HPS 41

42. Track 2: At School level:
 1. Participatory planning
 2. Training
 3. Implementing various components (and
success criteria)
 4. What components of a HPS framework were
implemented, alone or in combination?
a) School health policy b) Health education c)
Health services d) School environment e)
Community involvement f) Nutrition and food
safety g) Physical education and recreation h)
Mental health and social service supports
 5. Monitoring and evaluation
42

43. Track 2: At School level:
 To determine the direction of school health
for the next decade.
 A proposed outline of the end product (for the
Technical Meeting) follows:
• Introduction : Implementation research
theory
• Synthesis :Issues for discussion
• Case studies : From ~2 countries per WHO
Region (~ 12 stories, 6-10 pages each)
43

44. Track 3: How Schools Can Alleviate
Social & Economic Disadvantage
 1. Context Matters: the financial and human
capacities of the communities, systems and countries
in which they are situated. 4 sub-tracks:
-Schools in low income countries
-Schools in low income communities within high
income or middle income countries
-Schools serving aboriginal and indigenous
communities
-Schools serving communities and countries where wars/
civil conflicts have disrupted or destroyed their previous
capacity
44

45. Track 3: How Schools can Alleviate
Social & Economic Disadvantage
 2. Hearing the Voices from the
Margins: to ensure that experts who have
practical experience working with disadvantaged
schools and who are willing to acts as advocates
are engaged in the tasks of the committee.
 3. Schools can address disadvantage.
Schools are not able to eliminate disadvantage in
their societies but can work effectively with other
agencies to alleviate the impact of such
disadvantages to benefit students, parents and
communities.
45

46. Track 3: How Schools can Alleviate
Social & Economic Disadvantage
 4. Different Forms of Knowledge: The
social role of schools in low-income
countries and communities .
 5. Linkages with other International and
National Processes on Determinants: The
social and economic determinants of
health, learning and social development
are being considered by other
commissions, centers and committees.
46

47. Track 4 : Effective Partnerships Promoting
Health and Education for All School - Age Children
 To map out the network of existing and
potential partners and the networking processes
 Recognizing the comparative advantages of
each partner and their specific role in the
partnership.
 Identifying the roles of different sectors, for
example the public, private, civil and media sectors
within countries that promote health and education for
all school age children
 Capitalizing on proven successes by identifying the
mechanisms and processes that create effective
networks and networking.
47

48. Track 5: Globalization & media
 The role of the private sector
 Civil and international conflicts
 Environmental concerns and their impacts
on the social, educational and health
promoting role of schools
 Social and economic disadvantage as
determinants of health and learning
 The Media and mass communication on
school children
48

49. What Have You Done
for Your Students’ Health ?