Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha on Thursday ruled out any reshuffle of the Cabinet and said that “everything will remain the same”.
He was speaking after attending a no-confidence debate against the government in Parliament, which started on August 31 and ends on Saturday.
Reacting to an accusation by Pheu Thai MP from Chiang Rai Wisan Techatheerawat that the prime minister had paid THB5 million each to Pheu Thai MPs to vote for him during the debate, Prayut laughed and said he could not do that as there were cameras everywhere in Parliament.
When asked by the media about his current relations with Deputy Agriculture Minister Thammanat Prompao, Prayut said he had not met Thammanat recently and that it was the duty of Phalang Pracharat leader General Prawit Wongsuwan to handle the situation.
Before the no-confidence debate, there was a rumour that Thammanat and three other Phalang Pracharat MPs had asked Prawit, who is also a Deputy PM, to replace Prayut as prime minister. They also reportedly proposed a Cabinet reshuffle after the debate so that Thammanat could be in charge of a bigger ministry. Thammanat later refuted the rumour and blamed another deputy minister for the campaign.
Floods damage over 20,000 rai of farmlands this year
The Agriculture and Cooperatives Ministry announced on Thursday that flooding has damaged more than 20,000 rai of agricultural land and that 7 million baht has been spent compensating more than 1,000 farmers.
Peeraphan Kothong, the ministry’s deputy spokesman, said according to the report covering damages incurred from July 5 to September 2:
• Farms in 11 provinces incurred damages worth 5.71 million in total and 1.6 million baht has been distributed among farmers. The provinces affected are Kamphaeng Phet, Mae Hong Son, Chiang Mai, Tak, Chiang Rai, Phitsanulok, Uttaradit, Loei, Rayong, Chanthaburi and Prachinburi.
• Fisheries in seven provinces incurred 0.18 million baht worth of damage and farmers have been given the exact amount. Provinces affected are Chiang Rai, Phayao, Tak, Saraburi, Samut Prakan, Loei and Trang.
• Livestock farmers in Mae Hong Son and Nan provinces were affected and the ministry is in the process of surveying the damage.
AstraZeneca delivers 5.3 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine to Thailand in August
AstraZeneca confirmed today that it delivered an additional 5.3 million doses of COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca to the Ministry of Public Health in August.
Atotal of 16.6 million doses of AstraZeneca’s vaccine have now been delivered to Thailand, as part of an aim to deliver 61 million before the end of this year.
The August deliveries to Thailand meet AstraZeneca’s projections for the month, which had forecast between five and six million doses.
James Teague, Country President, AstraZeneca (Thailand) Ltd., said: “There continues to be no higher priority for AstraZeneca in Thailand than manufacturing vaccines that can protect everyone as fast as possible. In partnership with Siam Bioscience, we continue operate at full manufacturing capacity and are leaving no stone unturned to increase supply further still.”
Since the first international launches in early 2021, the vaccine has helped prevent hundreds of thousands of hospitalisations and helped save tens of thousands of lives.
COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca is 80-90% effective against severe disease and hospitalisation and is effective against all severities of COVID-19 across all adult age groups. The vaccine is effective against WHO-identified variants of concern including the current circulating Beta and Delta variants.
COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca has been shown to be generally well tolerated. Incidents of thrombosis with thrombocytopenia (TTS), an extremely rare blood disorder, have been reported in a small number of people who received the vaccine within 14 days of the first dose which reduced to rates expected in the general population after the second dose.
To date, AstraZeneca and its partners have released for supply more than one billion doses of vaccine to over 170 countries; approximately two-thirds of these have been delivered to low- and lower-middle income countries.
COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca
The COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca, (ChAdOx1-S [Recombinant]), formerly AZD1222, was co-invented by the University of Oxford and its spin-out company, Vaccitech. It uses a replication-deficient chimpanzee viral vector based on a weakened version of a common cold virus (adenovirus) that causes infections in chimpanzees and contains the genetic material of the SARS-CoV-2 virus spike protein. After vaccination, the surface spike protein is produced, priming the immune system to attack the SARS-CoV-2 virus if it later infects the body.
Thailand logged 14,653 new Covid-19 cases and 271 deaths over the past 24 hours on Friday. Of the new infections, 356 were found in prisons.
Meanwhile, 18,262 patients have recovered and been discharged over the past 24 hours.
Thailand’s total caseload from Covid stands at 1,249,140 – 1,076,966 of whom have recovered, 159,800 are still in hospitals and 12,374 have died.
Separately, another 394,608 people were given their first Covid-19 shot in the last 24 hours, 468,104 their second shot, and 2,362 their booster shot, bringing the total Covid-19 vaccine doses administered nationwide to 34,292,537.
According to Worldometer, confirmed cases globally had risen to 219.98 million on Friday, 196.63 million of whom have recovered, 18.79 million are active cases (104,722 in severe condition) and 4.56 million have died (up by 10,633).
Thailand ranks 29th on the global list of most cases, which is topped by the US with 40.51 million, followed by India with 32.90 million, Brazil with 20.83 million, Russia with 6.96 million and the UK with 6.86 million.
Insurance firms ordered to honour Covid-19 claims within 15 days
The Office of Insurance Commission (OIC) has ordered insurance firms to compensate Covid-19 policyholders 15 days after receiving all documents. This order is effective as of September 1.
Hundreds of insurance policyholders have recently complained that insurance firms have left them waiting despite being provided with all relevant documents.
OIC secretary Suthipol Taweechaikarn said his agency has acknowledged this issue and had officials monitor the situation closely. He said in response to the order, many companies have adjusted their system to make payments faster.
The OIC has ordered companies with more than 100 outstanding compensation issues to establish a special division that only deals with Covid-19 cases. The examination of documents must be completed within three days and compensation paid within 15 days if all documents are in order. The company must inform the customer on the same day if documents are incomplete.
In disputed cases, insurance firms must report them to the OIC within seven days and report developments to the OIC every 15 days.
The OIC said it will establish four teams to investigate these cases.
Suthipol said the OIC may temporarily ease rules for insurance firms so they can make payments more quickly, especially since they have to deal with thousands of applications daily. He said the OIC is fixing issues and confirmed that all insurance firms are strong.
Meanwhile, Arnon Wangwasu, president of the Thai General Insurance Association, added that insurance firms were hiring more people to look after this issue. He said the number of claims submitted has risen 100-fold and since many members of staff are working from home, the process is delayed.
Southeast Insurance, for instance, has hired 180 people to deal with this issue directly. It has also set up a system of receiving claim applications via Line and can address 1,000 to 1,500 cases daily. The 10,000 or so outstanding cases should be solved within two weeks, the company said.
The company also said many customers have sent rapid antigen test results for Covid-19 instead of RT-PCR tests, and that it has had to ask for new results.
Arnon has advised policyholders to have the following documents ready when applying for a claim: • An RT-PCR Covid-19 test result from labs certified by the Department of Medical Sciences • Identification card • Details of bank account registered with the company.
Sinovac-AstraZeneca combo safe and effective, insists Public Health Ministry
People whose first jab was Sinovac and second jab AstraZeneca have shown a significant boost in immunity against Covid-19, Public Health Ministry’s permanent secretary, Dr Kiattiphum Wongrajit, said on Thursday.
“The ministry has stopped giving two doses of Sinovac and is instead giving a Sinovac-AstraZeneca combination,” he said. “So far, 1.5 million such combinations have been administered and have proven to be safe and effective.”
Dr Supphakit Siriluck, director-general of the Department of Medical Sciences, said the Sinovac-AstraZeneca combo is as effective as two doses of AstraZeneca, but the second dose can be administered faster. The interval between jabs for Sinovac is two to four weeks, while that of AstraZeneca is 16 weeks.
“The Sinovac-AstraZeneca formula allows us to vaccinate more people in a wider area in a shorter time,” he said. “The ministry is also planning to provide AstraZeneca booster shots to the 3 million people who have received two shots of Sinovac.”
Meanwhile, Dr Manas Phothaporn, deputy director-general of the Department of Medical Services, said the ministry has adjusted its treatment strategy for Covid-19 patients by prescribing Favipiravir tablets to patients with mild or no symptoms.
“By giving the drug before symptoms escalate, patients can recover faster and make more beds available at community isolation centres,” he said. “Those who have tested positive but are still asymptomatic will be given Fah Talai Jone provided they have no underlying health issues.”
The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) is planning to launch a new round of registration for Covid-19 jabs via its Thai Ruam Jai website if it has enough doses available.
Governor Aswin Kwanmuang said second jabs are currently being provided to Bangkok residents at 25 vaccination stations across the city.
He said once the administration of second jabs is completed, BMA will check to see how many doses are remaining. If there are any left, it will launch a new round of registration via the Thai Ruam Jai website immediately, the governor added.
From June 7 to August 21, 1,361,511 people in Greater Bangkok received their first AstraZeneca jab. Of those vaccinated, 1,045,219 were aged between 18 and 59, while 316,292 were seniors or people with chronic conditions.
Meanwhile, from August 30 to September 1, 79,567 people in Greater Bangkok have received their second AstraZeneca jab.
Don suggests synergising Thai-Japanese growth strategies
Don Pramudwinai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, participated in a webinar on “Envisioning the Future: Thailand-Japan Strategic Economic Partnership”, along with other representatives of Thailand and Japan.
The webinar, attended by 978 participants, was organised jointly by the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Embassy of Japan on July 21.
The objective was to provide a platform for exchanging views among high-level representatives from the public, private and academic sectors on how Thailand and Japan can enhance economic cooperation amid current opportunities and challenges in bilateral, sub-regional and regional levels.
In particular, the Covid-19 pandemic which has widely impacted the economy, society as well as well-being of people, have made both sides realise that to move forward, development must be pursued with focus on sustainable and inclusive growth in order to create peace, prosperity and sustainable wellness for people across all economic zones, regions and the world at large, the Thai Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Don also proposed ways for cooperation with Japan in order to further strengthen the strategic economic partnership. He emphasised the importance of synergising Thailand’s new growth paradigm, the Bio-Circular-Green (BCG) economy model, with Japan’s Green Growth Strategy in four main areas:
▪Transformation of Thailand’s automobile industry to the complete zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) industry by utilising Thailand’s over-30 year experience as a global automotive production base;
▪Bio-cycle creation consisting of bio-fuel and bio-mass in economic circuit; ▪Smart food industry
▪BCG entrepreneurship incubation as well as skilled labour development in BCG-related industries.
Japan’s Ambassador to Thailand Nashuda Kazuya gave a special lecture on “Towards a new stage of Japan-Thailand cooperation”.
He underscored the everlasting friendship between Thailand and Japan through thick and thin, especially when Japan was hit by disasters during the great earthquake and tsunami and when Thailand faced severe flooding over a decade ago. In these situations, both countries had shown true generosity in helping each other, he said.
Recently, Japan also granted 1.05 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccines to Thailand and provided various forms of assistance to help support the efforts of the Thai government in coping with the Covid-19 situation.
Nashida stressed the importance of Thailand as a long-term key production base for Japanese companies. He noted that looking ahead, Thailand and Japan should focus their cooperation in new areas especially on:
Don suggests synergising Thai-Japanese growth strategies
(1) establishing the co-creation partnership, which focuses on enhancing collaboration and social development through brainstorming, finding constructive solutions, bridging the gaps, and creating innovations;
(2) Strengthening and mobilising the industrial sector towards sustainability by setting up a fund valued at 2 trillion yen (approximately US$18.1 billion) for the private sector to conduct research and development in carbon neutral technology to create a low-carbon society by 2050 in line with Thailand’s flagship BCG model, which aims to stimulate the expansion of new businesses and investments from Japan.
The panel discussion was conducted under the theme “What now & What next: Thailand-Japan Strategic Economic Partnership in Challenging Times”.
Don suggests synergising Thai-Japanese growth strategies Amongst the panelists were: Sihasak Phuangketkeaw, special adviser of the Eastern Economic Corridor Office (EECO), former permanent secretary for foreign affairs and former ambassador to Thailand to Japan; Chirapan Oulapathorn, chairman, Thai–Japanese Industrial Cooperation Institute; Aree Chavalitcheewingul, president of Cementhai Holding Co Ltd; Yurugi Yoshiko, chief representative at the Asian Representative Office in Bangkok, New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organisation; Prof Oizumi Keiichiro, professor at the Institute for Asian Studies, Asia University; Chokki Morikazu, chairman of Mitsubishi Motors (Thailand) Co Ltd; and Morita Keisuke, managing director of Spiber (Thailand) Ltd.
The panelists exchanged views on how to create value for the future of Thailand-Japan Strategic Partnership. They highlighted, among others, the importance of synergising Thailand’s BCG economy model and Japan’s Green Growth Strategy by working together on related industries, particularly ZEV and bio-industries, through human resource and high-skilled labour development and implementation of digital technology with the EEC as the targeted area. The panelists also suggested digital integration to facilitate the digital economy infrastructure.
While Japan’s public sector sees Thailand as global production base with well-equipped infrastructure and attractive investment promotion policies, they suggested capitalising on the huge Japanese business community in Thailand to move forward their mutually beneficial partnership and tackle new economic challenges.
In this regard, a five-year Joint Strategic Plan on Thailand-Japan Strategic Partnership should be formulated, which would coincide with the 135th anniversary of the establishment of Thailand-Japan diplomatic relations in 2022.
In the webinar, Don said Thailand and Japan have shared 134 years of “true friendship”, highlighting that both countries had together gone through many challenges and always extended each other a helping hand.
Thailand and Japan established diplomatic relations in 1887 and later became strategic partners in 2005.
Japan is Thailand’s second biggest trade partner, with total trade valued at US$50.556 billion in 2020.
Also, the country is the biggest investor in Thailand, with around 15,000 companies registered in the country. Japan sees Thailand as an important investment base in the Southeast Asia region.
In 2018, Japanese private companies agreed to collaborate with the government to develop a smart city in the Eastern Economic Corridor.
Don suggests synergising Thai-Japanese growth strategies
Four drugs for rare diseases added to national list of essential medication
Four “orphan” drugs, or pharmaceuticals that have not been commercially developed, will be added to Thailand’s national drug list for patients with rare conditions.
On August 2, the National Health Security Board approved in principle the inclusion of the drugs in category E(2), a subcategory of drugs under the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM).
Category E(2) includes a list of orphan drugs and priority medicines listed to improve accessibility to drugs and to protect the public.
Orphan drugs are required by a limited number of patients, and the prescription of these drugs requires special expertise, involves advanced technology and they can be too costly for many in society.
In addition, doctors must prescribe these drugs under an authorized system monitored by relevant government offices, including the National Health Security Office (NHSO), Comptroller General’s Department, Finance Ministry, Social Security Office and Labour Ministry.
Dr Jakkrit Ngowsiri, the NHSO deputy secretary-general, listed the four drugs as:
• Imatinib – an oral chemotherapy medication used in cancer treatment.
• Dasatinib – used for the treatment of certain cases of chronic myelogenous leukemia and acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
• Tocilizumab – an immunosuppressive drug used to treat rheumatoid arthritis and systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis, which is a severe form of arthritis in children.
• Ceftazidime/avibactam – used for the treatment of bacterial infections.
Imatinib and Dasatinib will be prescribed to child patients with Philadelphia Chromosome positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia (Ph+ALL), a rare subtype of the most common childhood cancer.
Tocilizumab will be used in child patients aged over two, who have systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis and who have not improved with other types of medical treatments.
Ceftazidime/avibactam will be provided to patients with Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae who have resistance to colistin, an antibiotic used to treat bacterial infections.
Dr Jakkrit said the availability of these drugs would save the lives of at least 316 patients covered by the Universal Coverage Scheme.
The NHSO will procure the drugs, expected to cost around 77 million baht, and distribute them to hospitals treating these patients.
BMA eyes launching new round of jab booking
BMA eyes launching new round of jab booking
Don suggests synergising Thai-Japanese growth strategies
Don suggests synergising Thai-Japanese growth strategies
Don suggests synergising Thai-Japanese growth strategies
SootinClaimon.Com 