Public Health
To the princess mother, the health and well-being of her people were highest on the list of priorities. She believed that, with good health, they would be in the position to earn an income and help develop the country – a philosophy that echoed that of her royal husband, Prince Mahidol Adulyadej, who had pledged his mental, physical and financial support to the field of public health of the country.
Upon the death of Prince Mahidol, the Princess Mother continued to provide scholarships to medical students so their studies would not be interrupted. When they returned to work, she also supplemented their salary if it happened to be lower than the set rate. A revolving fund of 500,000 baht was provided to Chulalongkorn University for 25 years, from which the interest could be used to send students for post-graduate studies overseas. After 25 years, the fund was transferred to the Faculty of Medicine, Siriraj Hospital.
In 1945, as she accompanied her elder son, King Ananda Mahidol, back to Thailand, she brought back with her drug PAS which was used to treat tuberculosis.
In addition to providing scholarships, the Princess Mother continued to play a major role in the field of nursing in Thailand. She founded the Thailand Nursing Association, of which she was also a board member. With her funds, the first national nursing convention in Thailand was organized in 1960. Hospital building and nursing schools were built under her patronage
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Famous quotes containing the words public and/or health:
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—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)