P4H facilitated a study tour to Thailand with representatives of the Cambodian National Institute of Public Health, the General Secretariat to the National Social Protection Council and the Department of Planning and Health Information, Ministry of Health. Together these institutes are crucial to monitor progress towards UHC and to provide policymakers with the necessary information to advance UHC in an equitable manner.
The objective of the study tour was therefore to learn from Thailand’s UHC endeavour, more specifically enabling Cambodian participants to critically appraise arrangements between research institutes and policymakers, associated formal and informal processes, and nature of research and ways of dissemination, that facilitate or hamper uptake of evidence for policymaking.
Participants therefore had interactive discussions and exchanges with representatives of institutions engaged in producing information for monitoring UHC and evidence-based policymaking related to UHC: the International Health Policy Programme, the National Health Foundation, the Health Systems Research Institute, Health Intervention and Technology Assessment Program and the National Health Security Office. Participants also learned of the complementary roles played by each of these institutes, how they interact with each other and how they inform policymakers. The Cambodian participants not only learned from Thailand’s experience but also had the opportunity to get to know each other better, a crucial factor to advance the communication and uptake of evidence.
