BANGKOK, July 2015 – The Department of Health is determined to expand its contraceptive service campaign entitled “Be Sure” after a considerable number of pharmacists have well responded to the campaign, Director-General of the Health Department Dr.Porntep Siriwanarangsun said.
The Be Sure campaign calls for cooperation from pharmacies as an initial center for people to access birth control services. Pharmacists working in pharmacies across Thailand take a role of a consultant for family planning and contraception.
Since the project’s inception in 2014, the Health Department has conducted three training courses for five hundred pharmacists taking part in the campaign. Most of them work in Bangkok and the rest work in nearby provinces such as Ayutthaya, Saraburi and Chonburi.
After the training, they are able to give contraceptive advice to people in an easily understandable and correct ways based on a guidebook of the department.
Any pharmacist wishing to take part in the training can apply at the Bureau of Reproductive Health. They can search for more information at www.besurethailand.com.
One of the objectives of the campaign is to reduce unintended pregnancy among teenagers in Thailand. Surveys show the majority, or 46% of teenagers get pregnant because of inaccessibility to birth control services; 28% of them take birth control methods on an irregular basis. Moreover, most of the teenagers are reluctant to consult medical experts due to their embarrassment, which prevents them from appropriate contraception.
A total of 125,371 young females aged under 20 gave birth in 2013, or 334 people per day. Of that number, females aged under 15 gave birth to nine babies per day.
