– The Cross Border Health Course is an exciting new educational offering hosted at Mae Fah Luang University (MFU) in Chiang Rai, Thailand. Cross border areas present a unique set of public health challenges, as they often represent the intersection of dynamic geopolitical, economic, sociocultural, and demographic issues. They are important entry points for communicable diseases, and affected populations may experience variable access to health care, health promotion, preventive health and emergency services. Communities in these areas also face many social, legal, environmental and occupational health risks with women, children and the elderly particularly at risk.

 – Thailand has a universal health care coverage policy that allows Thai people to access health care services with equity and quality.  Thailand also has good health infrastructure and Thai health personnel have excellent quality training. As a result, the Thai government has long collaborated with the Myanmar, Lao PDR and Cambodia governments to control and prevent communicable diseases and provide health care services for migrant workers and for people living on the borders. There is also a long history of cross-border work to prevent human trafficking.

– Mae Fah Luang University faculty and health personnel have rich experiences providing health care and other public health services for people who live or have migrated to work in these border areas, in part because of the university’s unique geographic location in the “Golden Triangle” region. This training program is born out of that unique expertise, and has the goal of enhancing learning and care capacity for cross border health issues, promoting the health of people living at cross border areas, and enhancing their quality of life.