The NHSO emerged as a key player, while the MOPH’s roles in governance and
priority setting were in decline. However, these two roles are necessary to ensure
the availability of essential public health services and a better balance between
medical care and public health interventions. The MOPH needs to regain some
of its lost power through the effective use of evidence in policy and strategy
development and active monitoring, evaluation and supervision, so that the
Thai health system can become even more effective, efficient, equitable and
socially accountable.
Macroeconomic impacts of the UCS
Using existing datasets such as socioeconomic surveys, national health accounts
and national input/ output tables (see Table A3 in the Annex) the macroeconomic
impacts of the UCS were assessed on three dimensions: government consumption,
household consumption and savings, and production activities.
First, the change in consumption patterns induced by the UCS had a redistributive
effect, namely reducing household direct payments for health care. Government
consumption shares in education and health increased proportionally more in