Healthcare Council Video Conference: Reinventing Thailand Healthcare Post Covid-19

On July 22 AMCHAM’s Healthcare Council organized Reinventing Thailand's Healthcare Post Covid-19 to over 30 attendees. Committee Co-Chair Amara Chunplang, Pfizer introduced guest speaker, Nares Damrongchai, Chief Executive Officer of Thailand Center of Excellence for Life Sciences (TCELS) to talk about disruption of the healthcare industry and reinventing Thailand's Healthcare post Covid-19.Dr. Nares gave an overview of the Covid-19 situation globally and in Thailand. He spoke about Thailand’s disease control measures and gradual phasing of reopening the economy which has resulted in containing the spread of the disease.

Dr. Nares mentioned that Covid-19 has an enormous impact in the health and economic front, but Thailand has responded to the crisis by adapting and reinventing new kinds of protective and medical devices overnight. In light of Covid-19, he mentioned that the Thailand’s future healthcare will depend on becoming self-sufficient and resilient. He spoke about the 5 Cs that Thailand could offer to the world– care, corridor, creativity, culture and culinary and gave information on 8 priority areas to make Thailand a global medical hub through research, development, innovation, manufacturing, and market.

Dr. Nares gave examples of how Thailand has used AI technology to study Covid-19 to support advanced clinical trials in its race to produce a coronavirus vaccine, currently under testing and anticipated to be available for wider use within 2021. This event was a platform to learn about enhanced government direction post Covid-19, digital readiness of the region, and the role of public-private partnership to advance Thailand's healthcare and life science industry to become a leader in the region supporting the region's anticipated growth as a medical hub.

AMCHAM members asked questions regarding, capacity building, telemedicine, robotics, data privacy and the potential of digital and data to re-imagine the entire business value chain. The presentation and video are available on the AMCHAM Member Portal.