The ASEAN Institute for Health Development (AIHD), Mahidol University, in cooperation with the International Labour Organization (ILO) organized the ‘Social Health Protection Situation, Issues, and Challenges in ASEAN Countries’ online seminar on 7 August 2020.

7 August 2020.

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Asst. Prof. Dr. Phudit Tejativaddhana, M.D., Director of AIHD, has led in organizing the said seminar. He was assisted by Dr. Vijj Kasemsup, M.D., Deputy Director of AIHD, Asst. Prof. Dr. Orapin Laosee, Acting Program Director of the Master of Primary Health Care Management, along with the AIHD lecturers, and staff. The seminar was focused on developing and building the skills and capacities of the students in the Master of Primary Health Care Management with Special Track in Social Health Protection. This program is designed to equip the students with the necessary skills and knowledge to design social health protection plans in ASEAN countries. During the seminar, the main points and the challenge of planning design that will help guide the students and be able to apply it to their thesis were also presented. AIHD has invited Dr. Thant Sin Htoo, Assistant Secretary/Director, National Health Plan Implementation Monitoring Unit, Ministry of Health and Sports-Myanmar; Dr. Nguyen Khanh Phuong, Deputy Director, Health Strategy and Policy Institute, Ministry of Health-Vietnam; Dr. Bouaphat Phonvisay, Former NHIB Deputy Director-Lao PDR; Prof. Dr. Supasit Pannarunothai, Chair of Centre for Health Equity Monitoring Foundation-Thailand, to be the seminar’s honored guest speakers. The seminar was conducted online via Zoom with Adjunct Prof. Thaworn Sakunphanit, M.D., Advisor to the Deputy Minister of Public Health, serving as the seminar moderator. More than 30 participants from Vietnam, Myanmar, Lao PDR, Nepal, and Indonesia have joined and participated. In summary, all four countries have expanded their social health protection under mixed sources of health financing and their population health care coverage under the multiple health insurance schemes. They all have faced different challenges towards the Universal Health Coverage. Myanmar is facing challenges on high out-of-pocket expenditures and expansion of service coverage. Currently, Myanmar has started providing the basic health benefits package at the primary care level. Lao PDR has almost reached the universal health coverage, and the percentage of service utilization has highly increased during the past three years. The main challenges for Lao PDR are the sustainability of their health financing, integration of the social health protection schemes under one single scheme or the National Health Insurance scheme, and the reduction of out-of-pocket payment. Vietnam has also tallied a high coverage under their social health insurance but still facing challenges on sustainability and the efficiency of health financing and the burden of disease. Thailand has achieved the Universal Health Coverage, but still has difficulties on harmonization between three public health insurance schemes and the sustainability of the health care financing.