Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra has ordered public transport in Bangkok to be free for a week from 25-31 January in order to reduce soaring toxic smog.

The Medical Council of Thailand has filed a lawsuit in the Administrative Court against the National Health Security Office (NHSO) and the Pharmacy Council of Thailand over a new initiative which would allow those covered by the Universal Coverage Scheme (UCS) to get free medication for common illnesses from pharmacies.

<p>New orders issued by the Ministry of Public Health restricting the HIV prevention budget and requiring community-based clinics to be supervised by a government medical facility have drawn criticism from civil society due to concerns that the new regulations would limit their ability to provide HIV testing and preventative medication to at-risk groups.</p>

<p>Because of bureaucratic impediments, foreign migrant workers are often unable to get social security cards and obtain access to the Thai public health care system.</p>

<p>Thai Embassies have issued warnings to Thai people about taking cannabis and hemp into Indonesia and Vietnam, where penalties include fines, life imprisonment and capital punishment.</p>

<p>Government data says 2 million out of 12 million senior citizens have yet to receive a single dose of COVID-19 vaccine, and many more have yet to get their booster shots, despite established evidence that the elderly population is most at risk in the face of Omicron&rsquo;s onslaught.&nbsp;</p>

<p>In Thailand, efforts to control Aedes mosquitoes and dengue fever have produced uneven results.&nbsp;Over the past few decades, the toll of the disease has diminished in some areas. In others, mosquito-borne infections remain high. To improve the situation, control measures are being reconsidered.</p>

<p><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:115%"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif"><span style="color:black"><span style="font-size:16.0pt"><span style="line-height:115%"><span style="font-family:&quot;TH SarabunPSK&quot;,sans-serif">The rainy season comes and goes, leaving behind hundreds of thousands dengue fever patients. Each year, hundreds die of the disease. The recurring outbreak was bad enough before. Now mosquitoes have developed improved resistance to control measures, creating a new challenge for public health officials.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>

<p>Activist Shinawat Chankrajang and another protester were arrested in front of the Ministry of Public Health on Friday (16 July) during a protest over the Covid-19 vaccination programme, while two other protesters and one police officer were injured.</p>

<p>A group of doctors has submitted a petition, signed by over 200,000 medical professionals and members of the public, demanding that the government and the Government Pharmaceutical Organization (GPO) provide mRNA Covid-19 vaccines for frontline workers.</p>

<p>Human Rights Watch calls on the Thai authorities to ensure access to adequate protective measures and healthcare in detention facilities, as detainees are now at grave risk from Covid-19 outbreaks.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Governments must dramatically overhaul policies and invest in public health, economic stimulus, and social safety nets, to help countries recover faster from the COVID-19 pandemic, says a new report from the UN Development Programme.&nbsp;</p>