THE ASIAN CENTER OF INTERNATIONAL PARASITE CONTROL (ACIPAC): FIVE YEARS OF ACHIEVEMENT III. SCHOOL HEALTH FOR PARASITE CONTROL IN THAILAND: A REVIEW AND CURRENT MODEL ACTIVITIES Praphasri Jongsuksuntigul1, Pimpimon Thongthien2, Nithat Sirichotiratana3

The prevalence of parasitic infections is particularly high among low-income countries in the tropical world. These infections have a serious impact, not only on human health, but also on economic growth and development. The Asian Center of International Parasite Control (ACIPAC) was established under the Hashimoto Initiative (Takeuchi et al, 2003). It was designated as a Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Technical Cooperation Project in collaboration with the Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University; and the Department of Communicable Disease Control, Ministry of Public Health, Thailand. The mission of ACIPAC is to develop human resources to promote parasite control in the Southeast Asian region: expecting that the prevalence of parasitic infections in this region will be reduced to the level of non-significant public health problems. The Center’s activities include human resource development through international training courses, operational research, establishing human and information networking, and filling a supportive role in partnership formulation (Jimba et al, 2005).