Over a million local health volunteers will be upskilled with digital literacy to improve healthcare services, the Ministry of Public Health says.
The initiative was revealed on Friday to a gathering of health volunteers by Public Health Minister Dr Cholnan Srikaew.
They were attending a Memorandum of Understanding event regarding the volunteer smart card with the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC).
Dr Cholnan told the gathering that the nation's 1.07 million local health volunteers play a crucial role in advancing health security at the family and community levels.
To keep up with global digital trends, it is essential for them to enhance their digital literacy and have access to a mobile application on their smartphones, he said.
This tool will be powerful in facilitating their tasks, providing them with preliminary information on the health status of individuals under their care in respective communities, he added.
Furthermore, he said the ministry intends to broaden its scope to include "health riders". This term refers to a service where local health volunteers deliver medicines from hospitals to patients' homes.
He added that each healthcare volunteer will receive education in the fundamentals of medicinal knowledge.
The service will help to reduce the number of patients in hospitals as well as help patients cut their travelling costs and waiting time in hospitals.
However, there will be a service charge of about 50 baht per delivery, he said.
The service has been piloted in Nan, Udon Thani, Nong Khai and Phetchaburi provinces. The ministry plans to officially kick off the health rider service in Nan's Pua district in March, he said.