Chula endorses sexual equality Diligently educating young mothers and delivering a Transgender Health Manual

Policy and Operation

Due to the current knowledge surrounding sex progressing further than before, inclusive of studies about the nature of human sexuality, the body, and behavior, the World Health Organization has therefore announced that “Humans have the chance to be ill or suffering, from the essence of being a sexual being”. They have now categorized sexual matters as a part of human health, while demanding that the relevant sectors offer Sexual Health Services in all 4 aspects which include Promotive Care, Preventive Care, Curative Care, and Rehabilitative care. This has been implemented with the aim to prevent and resolve sexual health issues that may arise, leading to a happy life due to sexual security, or what is called Sexual well-being.

Looking back on the sexual situation in Thailand, it was found that the issue regarding the increase of population due to people having multiple children and giving birth more frequently, is disproportionate with the national economic and social development, holistically affecting the quality of life and health of families.

From the 2560BE survey conducted by the Department for Health, Ministry of Public Health, they discovered that the “Baby-faced mothers” issue of Thai teenage girls becoming pregnant and giving birth, especially between the ages of 10-19, has amounted to a total of 84,578 cases meaning that each day there will be approximately 232 children born from this group. Additionally, it was also found that within this group, there were repeat births from the same mothers, which amounted to approximately 9,092 cases or 10.7 percent, while 2,559 cases of young teenagers aged 10-14 became pregnant and gave birth, equaling to approximately 7 cases a day. The cause of pregnancies within this group is due to the lack of education and understanding regarding contraception during sex, which leads to unwanted pregnancies and health complications as well as social issues that follow in a chain like reaction including education, illegal abortions, sexually transmitted infections, divorce, and inexperience in childcare.

Additionally, a new challenge has presented itself amidst the increasingly open acceptance of the LGBT community in Thailand. The disclosure from the www.LGBT-Capital.com website states that there are around 4 million people in Thailand that identify as LGBT, which is around 2.8 percent of the country’s population, and is number 4 in the world. Currently, the Thai transgender community is facing health related issues that affect their bodies, mind, intellect, and coexistence in society, which is caused by discrimination that denies them access to basic health care.

Chulalongkorn University has foreseen the importance of good sexual health for its students, staff, and Thai citizens who are classed in the two groups that require access to equal sexual health services without incurring costs. Therefore, the university has helped to strengthen knowledge and understanding regarding family planning, contraception, and all aspects of sexual health, pushing for equality in public health services through the initiation of 2 key agencies within Chulalongkorn University which include:

1) Planned Parenthood and Fertility, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine and King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital organized training and service regarding family planning for students and the general public, both before marriage and before pregnancy. Furthermore, they offer treatment to people who struggle to conceive and provide advice about genetic disease free of charge while also offering screening for early stages of female gynecologic cancer and contraceptive services for prevention of fertilization and abortion to avoid unwanted pregnancies. This encourages the idea of having children when the parents are at a suitable age, leaving a reasonable amount of time between each child, and having an appropriate number of children. In addition, there have been developments of contraceptive innovation that is equal to the effectiveness of the oral contraceptive pill such as the Birth Control Ring, which has less side effects and doesn’t affect body weight, as well as developing progressive knowledge which can be used to effectively look after the health of Thai women by holding a yearly academic conference held by the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

The manifestation of results from promoting women’s health, preventing unwanted pregnancies via Planned Parenthood and Fertility, has acted as a pillar for Thai women to rely on and has given the women that use the service the time to prepare themselves, physically and mentally, for motherhood. Moreover, it has helped improve personal hygiene and reduce the mortality and disability rate in both mothers and children while also reducing the number of unsafe abortions and helping to facilitate the stress caused by economic problems within families, causing the rise in effectiveness of raising children, brought on by family planning.

2) Transgender Health Specialist Centre, Chulalongkorn University creates “Thai Transgender Health Service Manual”, a book about providing health care to transgender people, which is the first of its kind in Thailand, is being used a guideline for health personnel and members of the public that are interested in providing care for transgender people. It was developed from the cooperation of interdisciplinary faculty of Chula including Faculty of Medicine Chulalongkorn University, King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital, and Tangerine Community Health Centre. Furthermore, it received international support from the United States Agency for International Development through the LINKAGES project Thailand. This manual was distributed to organizations, agencies, infirmaries, and community health centers that offer health care to transgender people free of charge. The manual comes as a physical book and electronic book, available from the 12 of September 2563BE, alongside an official website, www.cuceth.com, which is used as a channel to announce any news, educational material, training days, and also as a source to download the electronic manual for free.

In addition, the content of the manual was used as a reference at national academic conferences such as the Transgender Competent Care Training which happened on the 14-15 September 2563BE via the collaboration of specialist centers and the Tangerine Community Health Centre under the Institute of HIV Research and Innovation Foundation: IHRI

Developing good sexual health for Thai people, especially those of teenage girls and the Thai LGBT community, which are groups of people and age range that has potential and power to follow the above guidelines set out by Chulalongkorn University, meaning this will be another important mechanism in helping to reduce sexual disparity in society and elevate the quality of life for Thai people.