For 16 years the Ministry of Public Health of Thailand has published the report entitled "Thailand Health Profile" (in Thai and English) regularly every two years since 1995. This is the sixth edition of such a report, which describes the health situations and trends as well as the health systems of the country, linking to environmental factors in an integrated manner. Previous editions of the report have been used widely as a reference by several local and international health agencies, institutions and organizations.

This edition of the report, Thailand Health Profile 2008-2010, deals with the topics related to those included in the previous edition, but several certain issues have been elaborated and three macro-level topics related to policy and strategy of the health systems have also been added. The first topic is "Support for Access to Essential Drugs and Compulsory Licensing of Drugs" with details on Thailand's drug accessibility situation and the justification for the government use of patents on certain essential drugs as well as relevant international agreements and Thai laws, the notifications of the government use of patents, the procurement of the drugs under the government use of patents, and the amounts of such drugs procured and distributed. The second topic is "Economic Dynamics and Health", dealing with the global financial crisis and its impact on the Thai economy, Thailand's economic stimulus packages, and the economic impact on health and the health service system. The third topic is "Thailand and Global Health System", describing the concepts of global health programmes, movements of global health activities, and the roles of Thailand in global health programmes or forums.