The health of prison inmates tended to be worse than in the general population, particularly for those who use drugs. Based on the principle of human rights and equity of access, healthcare services provided to prison inmates should be equivalent to those provided to the general population.

This study had a 2-group pre-post quasiexperimental design and was conducted in 2 selected areas of Ubon Ratchathani province, Thailand. The objective was to evaluate the extent to which the surveillance system that was developed helped in drowning prevention. The development process involved extensive participation from the community. System efficiency was evaluated, and the drowning rates were compared. The system demonstrated 82.8% system sensitivity and 87% positive-predictive value. There were 90.0% rescues with no injury during the study period. The relative risk of drowning injury suggests that the control area was at 5.6 times more at risk for drowning injury than the intervention area (95% CI = 1.58, 20.12). Local knowledge and participation from the community were found to be key issues in the success of the surveillance system, and such systems can be applied to other areas with similar problems.

IntroductionAnalyzing the situation and risk factors associated with using new psychoactive substances (NPS) is essential for preventing and controlling health consequences. This study explored the prevalence and associated factors of NPS use in the Thai population.MethodsThis descriptive study was conducted in participants (N = 30,411, mean age = 42.4 ± 13.4 years, range = 15–64 years, 50.3% women) from urban and rural areas of Thailand. The participants were chosen using multistage sampling for large populations. The data were collected in July–December 2016 and analyzed using frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, chi-square, multiple logistic regression, and odds ratio with 95% confidence intervals (CI).ResultsThe prevalence of lifetime NPS use was 49.7% (95% CI, 49.1–51.3), past-year use was 31.3% (95% CI, 30.8–31.8), and current (past-month) use was 14.9% (95% CI, 14.5–15.3). Among current users, 29.5% were habitual users (over 20 days). The factors associated with current NPS use were sex (male/female) (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 1.145; 95% CI, 1.075–1.221; p < 0.001), age group (25–64/15–24 years) (AOR = 1.126; 95% CI, 1.090–1.358; p < 0.001), educational attainment (elementary or secondary education and higher) (AOR = 1.634; 95% CI, 1.529–1.747; p < 0.001), and employment status (AOR = 1.842; 95% CI, 1.683–2.016; p < 0.001).ConclusionsThe prevalence of NPS use in Thailand is high, which reflects abuse behavior that could potentially harm users. Understanding the prevalence and risk factors of NPS use could benefit policymakers.

There was a decrease in prevalence of illicit drug use within the past year between 2001 and 2003 in Thailand. Since 2003, the past year prelavence of illicit drug use has remained relatively stable. From 2001 to 2011, cannabis, kratom and yaba have remained the three most commonly reported types of illicit drugs used in Thailand.