(1) Construction: In 1971 there are 290 first class health centres (57 units
belong to the municipalities), 1,936 second class health centres, and 2,003
midwife centres in the country.
During the period 1972-1976 improvement and expansion of the first class
health centres will be carried out. In 1972-73 it is planned to establish 10
first class centres per year. In the following years 20 first class health
centres will be established annually. It is also planned to renovate 2 existing
first class health centres in the first year, 8 in the second year, and 10
annually in the following years.
In the first year 162 second class health centres will be constructed, 286 in
the second year and 276 centres will be built annually in the following years.
Renovation of 30 existing second class health centres in the first and second
years, 50 in the third year, and 50 centres in the following years is also
planned.
Two hundred midwife centres will be constructed annually and 30, 40, 50, 60
and 70 existing midwife centres will be renovated in the period 1972-1976.
Provided that programmes are carried out as planned, by the end of 1976 there
will be a total of 313 first class health centres, 3,212 second class centres,
and 3,003 midwife centres offering services to approximately 60 per cent of the
population in rural areas, or about 25 million people.
As regards the special first class health centres, only one of which is
already operating in Fang District, it is intended to set up four more such
centres during the Third Plan period at the following locations: Ban Phai, Lom
Sak, Hua Hin and Pak Chong. Two criteria were taken into consideration in
selecting these sites:
a. The district has a population exceeding 100,000.
b. The district is distant from the provincial hospital and road
communications are bad.
(2) Operation: Improve methods of operation and promote fuller utilization of
the health centre facilities.
(a) Expand the scope of medical care in the first class health centres to
meet the requirements of the people and to relieve some of the burden on the
hospitals. Thus, training courses, especially in emergency surgery, will be
conducted for physicians at the first class health centre, and additional
training in medical care will be provided for nurses, health workers, and
midwives to improve their knowledge of local diseases and to enable them to give
medical care within their scope.
(b) Increase the case-lode of health centres. Specialized campaigns are
expected to be included in the activities of health centres according to the
integrated health service plan. Six such special projects are expected to be
implemented during the Third Development Plan period, i.e. malaria,
tuberculosis, leprosy, school health, family planning and rural nutrition.
(c) Increase the number of health centre staff to be consistent with the
increasing case-lode, i.e. the first class health centre personnel will increase
from 9 to 15, the second class health centre from 2 to 3. An ambulance will be
available for each first class health centre, to transport patients between
hospitals and health centres, and more medical equipment and various categories
of drugs will also be provided according to the needs.
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