Stopping kidney disease before it is too late, the Government Pharmaceutical Organization (GPO) leads efforts to enhance early-stage kidney disease screening, promoting Microalbumin–GPO Prolab technology to increase treatment access and reduce the country's chronic kidney disease burden.
Dr. Mingkwan Suppanapong, Director of the Government Pharmaceutical Organization (GPO), stated that chronic kidney disease is a silent threat that affects people's quality of life and results in enormous treatment costs.
Therefore, detecting kidney abnormalities at an early stage is extremely important, as it increases the chances of treatment, slows kidney deterioration, and reduces the risk of progressing to end-stage chronic kidney failure.
The GPO prioritizes the adoption of quality, standardized technology to support public health service units, enabling the public to access screening widely, which leads to faster treatment and helps reduce the long-term strain on the health system.
Currently, the GPO offers a Microalbumin test kit for qualitative screening, which can quickly detect protein leakage in urine—a preliminary sign of kidney deterioration. It is convenient and suitable for use at all levels of public health service units, helping to identify patients early before the disease progresses and impacts quality of life.
Additionally, the GPO has developed and introduced GPO Prolab, a result reader and laboratory data management system that enhances test result reading efficiency, data storage, and patient follow-up in an organized manner. It supports health data linkage and improves management of non-communicable chronic diseases (NCDs).
Dr. Mingkwan said that combining the Microalbumin test kit with the GPO Prolab system marks a significant step for the GPO in supporting the development of Thailand's public health system by focusing on prevention and early disease detection, which is the most cost-effective and sustainable approach for the country's health system.
"Detecting kidney disease just one step earlier can extend kidney function by several years, reduce the chance of progressing to end-stage chronic kidney failure, and help lower future national healthcare costs," she added.
The GPO remains committed to being the nation's key organization for pharmaceutical security, medical supplies, and medical technology, driving quality innovation to elevate Thailand's health system and ensure sustainable health security for the public.