Thailand’s the National International Health Regulations (IHR) Focal Point: Notification of Public Health Events in 2023

Abstract

Introduction: The International Health Regulations (IHR) 2005 require State Parties to assess and notify events that may constitute a public health emergency of international concern through their National IHR Focal Points (IHR NFP). This study aimed to describe the system for receiving reports of public health events from State Parties and analyze the public health events reported to Thailand’s IHR NFP in 2023.

Method: A mixed-methods study was conducted, incorporating both quantitative and qualitative approaches. Quantitative data involved descriptive analysis of public health events reported to Thailand’s IHR NFP between January and December 2023. Qualitative data were gathered through focus group interviews with four staff members responsible for receiving and reporting public health events at Thailand’s IHR NFP.

Results:

Thailand reported a total of 92 public health events, affecting 107 patients. The majority of these patients were male, aged between 20 and 39 years. Japan accounted for the highest number of reports (40.19%), with the peak reporting period occurring between March and May (53.27%). Respiratory diseases were the most commonly reported category (77.57%), including cases of COVID-19, Legionnaires' disease, and tuberculosis. This was followed by sexually transmitted infections (16.82%), such as monkeypox and drug-resistant gonorrhea. Thailand's International Health Regulations National Focal Point (IHR NFP) responded to and coordinated 83.17% of these public health events. However, only 42.05% of the cases included patient identification information, and just 9.35% provided details regarding the patient's residence in Thailand. The incident reporting system was managed by rotating staff on a weekly basis, and there was no operational manual in place to guide the processes of receiving, responding to, or managing the data.

Conclusion and recommendations: The absence of SOPs for receiving and managing information resulted in incomplete responses to public health events and insufficient data for contact tracing and source identification. Thailand’s IHR NFP should establish clear and standardized SOPs to enhance coordination efficiency and improve responses to international public health events.