Health Care Utilization among Burmese Migrant Workers in Ranong Province - การใช้บริการสุขภาพของแรงงานชาวต่างชาติชาวพม่าในจังหวัดระนอง

Abstract

         This cross-sectional survey investigated the health status and the use of health care services of 431 Burmese migrant workers in Ranong province. The survey was conducted during October 2003- May 2004. An analysis of morbidity in the sample shows that the mean number of morbidity within the 6 preceding months was 1.2 episodes per person. The top three morbidities were unspecified symptom (36%), fever by unknown cause (20%), and respiratory tract infection (13%). More than half of the respondents (58%) opted for drugstore services for the treatment, 15 percent recuperated without any treatments. Half of the respondents with critical illness delayed appropriate investigations or treatments, resulting in more severe symptoms and prolonged treatments. The total cost of treatment in this study was 71,578.00 baht or 166.00 baht per case on average.

          The limitation of access to health care services among Burmese migrant workers was due to low income, lack of health insurance, language barrier, illegal status, and inappropriate governmental provisions for migrant workers. Even those having health insurance cards also encountered impediments in accessing to health care services, because they lacked knowledge on how to use the health card and some of their cards were in custody of their employers. Suggestions are made for increasing the migrant rights and effectiveness of the health care system, with the aim of making professional medical care more accessible to all migrant workers.

Key words: migrant workers, utilization, health services