Save the Children is one of the leading agencies working in the health sector in Laos.  In the 20 years since the Save the Children Primary Health Care Project has been operating in areas of Laos, the maternal and infant mortality rates have reduced by 80% compared to the national average. This means that Millennium Development Goals 4 & 5 have been achieved in those areas. 

We work in partnership with district and provincial health departments to improve primary health care.  These successful outcomes earned Save the Children the UN Development Award in 2007.  The program has also been highlighted as one of only eight best-practice approaches in a wide-ranging assessment of maternal and child health in the region. With further funding, we will replicate this highly successful program across more districts in Laos, enabling us to reach more remote areas, more families and more children.

Despite the success, the statistics are still bleak.  The health situation of women and children in Laos is amongst the poorest in Southeast Asia; Infant mortality rate is 70 per 1000 live births and under five mortality claims 98 per 1000 live births¹.  Every day 36 children under-five die due to preventable and treatable diseases. Percentages of underweight children have been almost unchanged between 1990 and 2006 (40% and 37.1%) and the prevalence of stunting in under-fives is up to 40.4%. According to UNICEF/WHO official estimate (2007), immunisation coverage has declined—only 27% of children by their first birthday have received all eight recommended vaccinations².  Maternal mortality remains very high at 405/100,000 live births, approximately 800 deaths per year or 2 deaths per day. A high percentage of children (71.5%) are born to mothers who received no antenatal care and 84.8% of pregnant women give birth at home³ . These are clear indicators of low health service utilization and poor quality health services/facilities.

There are however encouraging signs of progress. Our award-winning health program in Laos continues to make a difference in the lives of children in the provinces of Sayaboury and Luang Prabang, with 83,000 children accessing hospital services in 2010. Our work encompasses primary health care services, public education, promotion of proper nutrition and sanitation, immunisations, and building and expanding health facilities. Our program has been running since 1992 in partnership with the Laos Ministry of Health, and we have assisted the Government of Laos to reach two Millennium Development Goals for infant and maternal mortality in Sayaboury.

¹ Lao Reproductive Health Survey 2005, this is the official figure and most reliable for reference - the 2008 survey, although it quotes lower figures is not ‘official'

² Strategy and Planning Framework for the Integrated Package of Maternal Neonatal and Child Health Services 2009 - 2015

³ Lao Reproductive Health Survey 2005

⁴ Of these 70 deaths, 26 deaths occur in the first (neonatal) month. Specific neo-natal mortality data (death within 28 days) is not regularly collected. These get included in the general infant mortality data (death in first 12 months).

⁵ UNDP, UNESCAP & ADB joint publication: A future within reach 2008: Regional Partnership for the Millennium Development Goals in the Asia Pacific region, Bangkok 2008.

⁶ This report, A future within reach 2008, cited above, does not directly reference data sources for individual countries. It is encouraging to see the progress Laos has made since the 2005 Census.

⁷ Source of MDG targets: Formal Government of Lao submission UN, website link http://www.un.org/ecosoc/docs/pdfs/Laos_NVP_annex.pdf