Resident Coordinator's remarks at the 4th UNTWG on NCDs Meeting

I would welcome all of you, our partners from Government, Civil Society, and the UN today. We are pleased to be able to host you at the UN Conference Centre especially after a prolonged time of lockdowns. It’s truly a pleasure to have this meeting be hybrid.

It is my honor to co-chair, together with Dr. Taweesap Siraprapasiri, Senior Advisor of the Department of Disease Control. Though Dr. Opas, DG DDC was not able to join us today, I would like to take a moment to thank him and his team for their service and dedication to protect the health of people in Thailand, during the challenging times we have faced with the pandemic.  

Let me start today’s meeting by acknowledging the Government of Thailand for the long-term, comprehensive investment in health care, which has built a resilient health system.

This has enabled Thailand to effectively control the spread of Covid-19, rapidly scale up vaccination for all people living in Thailand and keep mortality low to a great extent.

Thailand’s thematic working group on NCDs is a unique mechanism that allows multi-stakeholder engagement, across Line Ministries, and beyond the Ministry of Public Health and the UN. It is a global best practice, which was acknowledged by the UN Secretary General at the ECOSOC. Other countries are examining how they can emulate this mechanism.

I believe that the thematic working group should become a permanent institution in Thailand that sets its own goals and is not just focused on recommendations from the UN. It should bring together champions of best practice from the UN as they have an overview of successful NCD interventions around the world.

The battle against NCDs cannot be won by the health sector alone, it will require all government organizations to work hand in hand with the Ministry of Public Health to fight against NCDs together, as Dr. Opas has often reminded us.

Let me also congratulate Thailand for joining the UN Multi-Partner Trust Fund on NCDs and Mental Health as a Founding Strategic Partner and member of the Steering Committee, together with Uruguay and Kenya.

This provides Thailand a unique platform to showcase its leadership and expertise, and exchange best practices with other countries as a model of South-South cooperation. Being the first trust fund of its kind, focusing on NCDs and mental health, catalyzed, and led by countries from the south, paves the way for south-south leadership.

Thailand’s global leadership through the Trust Fund is such a welcome development as we need all hands-on-deck. NCDs are a big burden on Thailand’s society, claiming 400,000 lives annually.

Preventing premature deaths from NCDs is fundamental to achieving the SDGs.

NCDs cause 3 out of 4 deaths in Thailand. Most alarmingly, approximately 90% of all who died from COVID-19 in Thailand were elderly or had an underlying NCDs.

These statistics are a drag to the sustainability of Thailand’s universal health coverage system given that as the country becomes a super-aged society in a decade from now, it will only increase the prevalence and burden of NCDs.

Also worrying is the rapidly increasing trend in adolescent obesity from 4% in 2008 to 20% in 2021 as shown in the latest school health survey.

Addressing the social determinants of NCDs requires policies from non-health public sectors particularly finance, trade, labor, agriculture, and education. Complementary action by other stakeholders will also be crucial.

There are many noteworthy examples of actions adopted by the government which are contributing to reducing the burden of NCDs.

The three examples include the Commerce Ministry banning e-cigarettes in 2014, the landmark legislation by the Finance Ministry introducing excise tax on sugary drinks and the ban on trans-fat. These legislations have protected youth from vaping and reduced sugar consumption across the country.

It is worth noting that the ban on trans-fat was possible due to a long collaboration between the Ministry of Health and Agriculture, together with civil society, academia, and the private sector.

WHO tells us that much more needs to be done to promote healthier diets from an early age to build resilience and lower risks to NCDs in Thailand. Data suggests that 4 out of 10 adolescents consume a sugary carbonated drink daily, as against only 35% consuming one serving of fruits daily. This shows how important it is to raise awareness and change behavior of young people.

Concurrently, we also need bold policy initiatives targeting schools including prioritizing procurement of healthy foods, subsidizing fruits and vegetables and banning the sale of sugary drinks within the school premises.

At the UN in Thailand, we are also taking steps within our offices to continue educating our personnel about healthy eating, and we are creating an environment to reduce consumption of processed foods and sugary drinks, and promoting healthy drinks, fruits, and vegetables.

Before we continue with the meeting, I would like to outline the agenda.

• After the opening session, I am delighted to announce that we will launch the report on Results and Recommendations of the NCDs Investment Case in Thailand.
• Thereafter, the MFA and IHPP will present an update on the UN Multi-Partner Trust Fund on NCDs and mental health.
• Our third Agenda item includes the update on the implementation of UNIATF recommendations led by UN agencies, civil society organizations and the government.
• Finally, we will discuss plans for continued collaboration under the next phase led by WHO and MOPH and wrap up with remarks from the UNIATF Secretariat and the WHO representative in country.

I would like to end my remarks by once again commending the Thai government on its leadership in joining the UN Multi-Partner Trust Fund on NCDs and Mental Health as a Founding Strategic Partner.

The UN system is fully committed to support Thai partners.  We hope that this partnership can continue to make a concrete difference to improve the health and wellbeing of Thai people and advance sustainable development