Kingdom helps WHO provide lessons on controlling an outbreak
Thailand is helping the World Health Organisation (WHO) develop guidelines and teach other international bodies and institutions on how to prevent and control a pandemic.
In a five-day event, which kicked off on July 20, Thai representatives presented the nine key pillars used in the prevention and control of Covid-19.
Tanarak Plipat, deputy director-general of the Disease Control Department, said the nine pillars Thailand followed to tackle the Covid-19 outbreak are:
1. Coordination, planning, monitoring and evaluation at the national level;
2. Communication and community participation;
3. Surveillance, disease investigation and follow-up;
4. Blocking access to the country;
5. Strengthening the national laboratory system;
6. Preventing and controlling new infections;
7. Effectively managing patients, sharing knowledge, innovation and research;
8. Supporting operations and transport in the supply chain as well as human-resource management;
9. Maintaining essential health services despite the outbreak.
Though Thailand has not had any local Covid-19 cases for several weeks now, there have been reports of infected patients returning from overseas. Dr Sombat Thanprasertsuk, from the Disease Control Department, said that though these patients are being kept isolated in government-sponsored quarantine centres, cooperation from all sectors is still necessary.
Meanwhile, WHO has also selected Thailand and New Zealand to film a documentary on successful models for handling and controlling Covid-19, though the schedule of the filming is yet to be revealed.