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Embassy's Health Initiatives

Health Diplomacy: Americans and Thais Working Together to Save Lives

The United States Embassy in Bangkok employs nearly 2000 American and Thai staff and more than a quarter of them work on health issues. The Embassy hosts one of the United States Government’s largest efforts to fight the world's most dangerous diseases: malaria, TB, dengue, HIV/AIDS and avian/pandemic influenza.

Three separate agencies employ a remarkable team of talented doctors, scientists and experts to combat those diseases and improve not only the lives of Thais and Americans, but people worldwide. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Armed Forces Research Institute of Medical Sciences (AFRIMS) collaborate with each other and Thai counterparts and are platforms for assistance and partnership throughout the region. A number of important breakthroughs, such as in the prevention of HIV/AIDS transmission from mothers to children, were developed here thanks to the strong partnership between the U.S. and Thailand.

Find out more about the Embassy’s work in health

  • Clinical trial in Thailand is among first in the world for live attenuated influenza vaccine for avian influenza
    Clinical trial in Thailand is among first in the world for live attenuated influenza vaccine for avian influenza

    Today, Thailand became one of the first countries in the world to test an H5N1 avian influenza vaccine in a needle-free, nasal spray formulation. 

  • Along with treatment, network sites offer lessons for both the young patients and their caregivers on such topics as sex education and the proper care and treatment of HIV-positive people in the home.
    Pediatric HIV Network Reaches Thai Citizens with a Message of Hope

    Treatment of kids with HIV is particularly difficult because their medication dosages must often be adjusted. Thanks to the Pediatric HIV Quality Care Network, supported in part by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more families are able to receive care near their homes.  

  • A medical technologist processes a blood sample in the lab of the Silom Community Clinic for Men who have Sex with Men (MSM) in Bangkok. The CDC studies HIV among Bangkok's MSM population, which has a high rate of HIV infection.
    HIV Clinic on Silom Road Honored with Clinical Research Site Status

    Inside the Bangkok Christian Hospital on Silom Road, novel approaches to preventing HIV infection are being tested by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The Silom Community Clinic, an HIV clinic for men who have sex with men, aims to be a model for the integration of HIV prevention research and services.  

  • Pneumonia Etiology Research for Child Health (PERCH) Study
    Pneumonia Etiology Research for Child Health (PERCH) Study

    Pneumonia kills more young children than any other illness, yet scientists still don’t fully understand all its causes. At the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s Thailand office, a comprehensive multi-country study was just launched to investigate this question. The Pneumonia Etiology Research for Child Health (PERCH) study is funded by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. 

  • More blood taken from a soldier after testing positive for malaria to monitor drug resistance parasite strains. Photo: WHO / Nat Sumon
    AFRIMS Mobile Units Help Detect Malaria

    The Armed Forces Research Institute of Medical Sciences (AFRIMS) sending out mobile units to carry out active malaria case detections among army and border police personnel stationed in areas where civilian public health workers have no access. 

  • How effective is hand washing against influenza?
    How effective is hand washing against influenza?

    How about wearing masks? Armed Forces Research Institute of Medical Sciences (AFRIMS), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and Queen Sirikit National Institute of Child Health just concluded the Household Influenza Transmission Study or “HITS,” a study to evaluate the role of hand washing and face mask use in reducing the spread of influenza in Bangkok.  

Health