WHO praises Thai health policies

CHIANG MAI, March 15 (TNA) - The World Health Organization (WHO) has praised Thailand's health policies which provide equal access to quality health services to the public. Visiting WHO Director-General Margaret Chan lauded the Thai public health policies on Friday, when she met Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra during her attendance at the Global Policy Group Meeting, held in Chiang Mai province in the Thai North. Suranand Vejjajiva, Secretary-General to the prime minister, told journalists that the WHO director-general praised the Thai premier for her government's public health policies, which not only provide Thai people with adequate and quality health services, but also ensure sustainable health management, suggesting that the Thai health policies be a good model for other countries worldwide. Suranand acknowledged that the WHO chief also informed the directors of six regional WHO offices of the successful management of Thailand's public health policies. According to the secretary-general, the WHO director-general invited the Thai prime minister to attend a meeting to present the WHO’s evaluation report set to take place during the next UN General Assembly in New York in September 2013. On the occasion, the Thai prime minister expressed her gratitude towards the WHO for supporting the development of health security in neighbouring Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia and promised to cooperate with the Geneva-based UN agency to further promote public health at national and regional levels. (TNA)