Public Health Innovation in Thailand 4.0

Abstract

This article intends to point out a valuable element in government’s development process toward Thailand 4.0, especially Public Health Innovation. Public health sector has a unique mission, which includes complex composition between biological, social connection, environment, personal lifestyle, community and economic system. The combination of these components are the factors of health outcome. Public health innovation is a component of government innovation, which took several years to evolve.  This involves not only product innovation, but also process innovation, or policy innovation, such as screening for HLA-B^∗15:02 gene, since it’s associated with increased severe skin hypersensitivity reactions, before carbamazepine (CBZ) therapy.   This is a benefit for public policy maker, and policy adoption. Innovation is important part of government development project, concurrent with collaboration and digitization. Government innovation lab is a laboratory for trial and error in policymaking process through brainstorming of stakeholder with design thinking process, to establish a prototype test and implementation. Not only in Thailand but also in others countries, government’s innovation lab in various levels depend on objective of government project. At present, Thai government has fundamental resource for Thailand 4.0 development, however implementation remain desirable in all levels. Some departments and some of government personnel have been working on outdated system. Therefore, the government development roadmap of Thailand needs collaboration in all segments for necessary resources, whether innovation digitalization and human resource, for next step of Thailand 4.0.