Grant: Planning and Dissemination Grant - Institute Community Support

Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and their burdens are prevalent worldwide, especially in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), including Thailand. Countries need to establish robust multi-sectoral actions (MSA) to implement effective policies to prevent and control NCDs successfully. The reason is that the nature of influencing factors contributing to NCDs is usually beyond the scope of the health sector. Nevertheless, true multi-sectoral collaboration is not easy to implement. The main barriers to creating a successful MSA are a lack of awareness by various other sectors about their potential contribution, weak political will, coordination complexity, and inadequate resources. The research team plans to introduce innovative approaches to establish a sustainable, practical, and effective multi-sectoral working platform for the prevention and control of NCDs in Thailand. These include (1) the outside-in approach to complement the conventional inside-out approach which is usually initiated by the Ministry of Health, (2) the approach using the informal, knowledge-based learning initiative to complement the conventional official routine meeting, and (3) the approach to enhance public support to complement the political will enhancement approach. With this planning grant, we will conduct three consultative meetings with key stakeholders in developing an implementation research proposal (IRP) to establish an effective MSA in Thailand. We will hold a one-day introductory meeting in Step I. Then, we will conduct a one-day informal, knowledge-based learning initiative to share and learn information regarding international best practices of ministerial policy intervention in NCDs prevention and control in Step II. After that, in Step III, a two-day meeting will be operated to do knowledge exchange and translation, and to design for an IRP for establishing the effective MSA in Thailand. Lastly, we will write up the IRP and ask for its approval from stakeholders.