Health literacy is the cornerstone for health system improvement. The general population in Thailand lacks important health knowledge to care for themselves. For example, people used to think that all minor Illnesses (e.g., common cold, diarrhea, and wound) must seek healthcare professionals’ attention. Therefore, the financial cost and workload for the public health sector are rising sharply and inappropriately. Another problem that we have commonly heard is violence in hospitals caused by unsatisfied patients who do not know how the healthcare process works. These problems considerably affect the workload and morale of healthcare professionals. Also, the migration of healthcare professionals from public hospitals to private hospitals is increasing due to the problems in the public sector. Hence, I think that health literacy as a promotional part of the health system should be improved immediately to reduce workload, financial cost, inequity, and other issues.
The possible barriers for improving health literacy in the general population are unacknowledged government, cooperation between the public sector and private sector (e.g. television, social media, and newspaper), financing, staff shortages, and long implemented process.