Thailand has one of the world’s highest prevalence of cervical cancer, mainly caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV). HPV infections can successfully be prevented by vaccination, which is available at a cost but not yet implemented in the national vaccination program. Parents play a critical role in deciding whether to vaccinate their child against HPV. Thus, the aim was to examine the association between parents’ knowledge, beliefs, and acceptance of the HPV vaccination for their daughters, considering their socio-demographics and religious beliefs. A cross-sectional design was used among three schools in Thailand: Nakorn Phatom province (suburban) and Bangkok (urban). Parents of 9–12-year-old daughters completed the questionnaires, guided by the Health Belief Model. In total, 359 parents completed the questionnaires; of those, 301 were included in the final analyses. The ordinary least squares (OLS) regression analysis showed that background knowledge of HPV and the HPV vaccine was positively related to knowledge of HPV and cervical cancer. For beliefs, knowledge was positively associated with susceptibility (i.e., parents’ perceived risk of an HPV infection/ related disease), severity, and benefit. However, knowledge was not significantly related to barriers. For acceptance, higher susceptibility and benefit were related to higher acceptance, and greater knowledge was associated with higher acceptance. Thus, we found associations between parents’ knowledge, beliefs, and acceptance of the HPV vaccination for their daughters, considering their socio-demographics and religious beliefs. Parents, who reported religion as important, as opposed to those who did not, were more favorable toward the HPV vaccination. Four out of ten mothers had never undergone a cervical cancer screening, but most had accepted previous childhood vaccinations for their daughters. The overall acceptance of the vaccine was high, and we believe our results are promising for future implementation of the HPV vaccination in the national childhood vaccination program in Thailand.

This paper discusses the experiences of the Khonkaen provincial hospital, which has been selected as an intervention case site for a one-stop crisis service for women who have been physically or sexually assaulted. It will be compared with another provincial hospital where no intervention has taken place.

No abstract

The objective of this study is to investigate the access to antiretroviral treatment among human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) patients in Chiang Mai province, Thailand. Access to antiretroviral treatment is defined in terms of availability, affordability, and acceptability. The data for the study were collected during the period of April 1, 2012–May 31, 2012 from a sample of 380 HIV/AIDS patients in eight hospitals who had received antiretroviral treatment for more than 6 months at the time of data collection. The results of the study show that for most patients, the average traveling time to access health care was acceptable, but the nearly half day waiting time caused them to be absent from their work. In particular, it took longer for patients in the rural and lower income groups to access the treatment than the other groups. Their travel times and food costs relating to the treatment were found to be relatively high and therefore these patients had a higher tendency to borrow or seek financial assistance from their relatives. However, due to improvements in the access to treatment, most patients were satisfied with the services they received. The results imply that policy should be implemented to raise the potential of subdistrict hospitals where access to antiretroviral treatment is available, with participating HIV/AIDS patients acting as volunteers in providing services and other forms of health promotion to new patients. Privacy issues could be reduced if the antiretroviral treatment was isolated from other health services. Additionally, efforts to educate HIV/AIDS patients and society at large should be made.

Background: Thailand lacks evidence of the current prevalence of workplace violence (WPV) at tertiary hospitals. This study aimed to examine the prevalence of, perpetrators of, and factors associated with WPV against healthcare workers in excellent tertiary hospitals in Thailand.Methods: This was a mixed-methods study. A questionnaire was individually administered by an interviewer to 220 healthcare workers using a tablet with an online platforms, and the completion rate was 100%. The study was conducted from July 2018 to March 2019. Pearson’s chi-square test was used to examine the variables related to any violence according to individual and work data. Odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals were used to assess risk factors for exposure to violence using a logistic regression model. Thirty participants provided additional qualitative data that were used for thematic analysis.Results: The findings revealed that in the past 12 months, 63.6% of the participants experienced violence at their workplaces. The most common type of violence reported was verbal violence (56.4%), followed by physical violence (24.1%), bullying (16.4%), sexual harassment (4.1%), and racial harassment (3.6%). Multivariable logistic regression revealed that the correlates of violence at hospitals included being male (OR = 4.28, 95% CI 1.50–12.19), working in an outpatient department (OR = 2.55, 95% CI 1.42–4.58), and having direct contact with clients (OR = 3.12, 95% CI 1.25–7.73). The qualitative data revealed 5 major themes.Conclusion: There is a high prevalence of violence against all healthcare workers at excellent tertiary hospitals in Thailand. Policymakers need to be aware of the roots and risk factors for all types of WPV. The results could also contribute to the development of appropriate policies, interventions for conflicts based on intergenerational gaps, reporting, investigation processes, preventive measures, and zero-tolerance protocols for all healthcare workers.