Financial protection is one of the UHC goals. Health financing reforms aim to protect people from financial hardships associated with the use of health services and products. In many countries, medicine largely contributes to out-of-pocket payments that cause household catastrophic health expenditure and impoverishment. Some medicines such as orphan drugs used for diagnosis, prevention, or treatment of life-threatening diseases are expensive because they require high-level expertise with advancing technologies.
Recently, Thailand added four orphan drugs to its national drug list of essential medicines applicable for the Universal Health Coverage Scheme. These drugs will be prescribed and used under an authorized system monitored by the National Health Security Office, Comptroller General’s Department, Ministry of Finance, Social Security Office, and Ministry of Labors. The NHSO will procure the four orphan drugs, approximately 77 million baht, and distribute them to hospitals for rare disease patients. To read more, please click.
Source: National Health Security Office
