Month: September 2021

Some 274 new Covid-19 cases have been recorded nationwide over the past 24 hours with 220 classified as imported cases and 54 as local infections, Director General of the Department of Communicable Disease Control, Ministry of Health, Dr Rattanaxay Phetsouvanh told a press conference today.

Most of the imported cases, dominated by as migrant workers returning from neighboring countries, were reported in Savannakhet 167, Champassak 45, Khammuan 4, Saravan 3 and Vientiane (province) 1.

The local transmissions included 18 cases reported in Bokeo, 14 in Champassak, 12 in Savannakhet, 4 in Khammuan, two in Vientiane and one each in Luang Namtha, Xayaboury, Luang Prabang and Vientiane (province).

Laos’ total of Covid-19 infections has reached 15,289 including 5,418 active cases and 14 deaths.

Covid-19 has infected more than 218 million worldwide including 693,668 new cases reported over the past 24 hours, and killed more than 4.53 million people since the first case was reported in Huhan, China in late 2019.

Source: Lao News Agency

The Embassy of the United States of America Deputy Chief of Mission Joy Michiko Sakurai on Aug 18 handed over US$183,000 in equipment and supplies to the Department of Communicable Disease Control (DCDC) of the Ministry of Health to help the Lao PDR in its continued fight against COVID-19 and other communicable diseases.

The handover ceremony took place at the Ministry of Health and was attended by Minister of Health Dr. Bounfeng Phoummalaysith, and senior officials from health-related departments of the Ministry of Health.

The equipment and supplies will be used for Emergency Operation Centre (EOC) and Point of Entry (POE) operations.

Specifically, the materials will support COVID-related work at EOC facilities in 13 target provinces and in POE facilities at 20 international border checkpoints across the country. These supplies will improve capacity at the subnational level to monitor and coordinate their response to COVID-19, including reporting and monitoring tools.

“The U.S. CDC, which donated these supplies and equipment, has worked with the Lao Ministry of Health for almost two decades. This year, the United States and the Lao PDR celebrate the 5th anniversary of the U.S.-Lao Comprehensive Partnership. The United States is proud to continue to support you and the Ministry of Health in protecting the people of Laos from infectious diseases, including COVID-19,” said DCM Joy Sakurai.

The U.S. CDC has provided US$3.6 million in funding to the Lao PDR to support capacity building to detect local transmission of the COVID-19 virus and provide useful information to public health authorities to effectively plan and implement appropriate control and intervention measures.

This support will cover six priority areas, including surveillance, laboratory/diagnostics, infection prevention and control in healthcare facilities, emergency operations, border health and community mitigation, and vaccine preparedness and disease prevention.

Today’s handover is part of over US$8 million in direct COVID-related assistance that the U.S. government has provided to the Lao PDR since the beginning of the outbreak.

Source: Lao News Agency

Today witnessed the signing of a cooperation agreement between the Lao Government represented by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Phoxay Khaykhamphithoune and the International Organisation for Migration – IOM – represented by its Chief of Mission in the Lao PDR Shareen Tuladhar. The signing was witnessed by relevant officials of both sides.

The signing aimed to enhance the cooperation between Laos and IOM. The document will be used as reference for the implementation of IOM-funded projects in the Lao PDR.

Addressing the signing event, Deputy Minister Phoxay highly valued and expressed sincere thanks for the assistance IOM has provided to the Lao PDR over the past years noting that such assistance contributed significantly to socio-economic development in the Lao PDR and expressed his hope that IOM will continue to provide assistance with respect to migration affairs including capacity building for local officials on migration, worker migration, and anti-human trafficking efforts.

In reply, IOM Chief of Mission in the Lao PDR Shareen Tuladhar expressed her delight to have signed the cooperation agreement with the Lao PDR and assured that IOM will continue to provide more assistance and support to the Lao PDR thus contributing to its socio-economic development, especially to migration related activities.

Source: Lao News Agency

The Ministry of Planning and Investments (MPI) and Borikhamxay provincial authority, with support from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), disseminated the revised National Population and Development Policy (NPDP 2019-2030) on Aug 31.

Present at the meeting were provincial representatives from Huaphan, Xieng Khuang, Vientiane (province), Xaysomboun, and Vientiane and related departments in Borikhamxay. The aim was to engage all provinces in population planning. The event was one of four previous launches in Vientiane and Savannakhet for southern provinces.

“Our country has a younger population contributing to more than 60% of the total population, and this trend will last for more than two decades. This is a very good opportunity for the Lao PDR to increase economic and social development growth. We need to invest now in our adolescent and youth’s education, health, and vocational development to be skilled and healthy employees with high responsibility for the national and community development, especially adolescent girls in the rural areas,” said Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Phonevanh Outhavong.

“I hope that provincial authorities will incorporate the indicators set out in this policy to their provincial plans,” she added.

“This policy is a fundamental guide that provides clear direction and information for our province to understand and invest in human development, especially in education, health, and skills development for the youth. The province and district level need to translate this policy into actionable and detailed plans and ensure that all targets set are achievable according to the timeframe,” said Vice Governor of Borikhamxay Province Bounseng Pathammavong.

The NPDP is a revision of the 1999 and 2006 population policies. It was developed with multiple sectors and the analysis of the population issues based on the recent census and survey data. This revised version also included an implementation matrix to help translate the policies into action and incorporate them into sectoral plans.

Laos is in the early stages of a demographic transition, meaning it will have the largest share of the working age population and fewer dependents (i.e. those below 15 years and above 65 years). According to the projection, the working-age population will continue to rise from 62 per cent in 2015 to 69 per cent in 2030; this NPDP is thus an essential guide to foresee and mitigate challenges and yield the benefits from the demographic dividend.

“I congratulate MPI for its leadership in the revision and dissemination of this policy. This policy will guide sector plans to contribute optimally to the 9th NSEDP and to the ICPD25 commitments as an essential milestone to the 2030 agenda. The population policy allows planners to take a people-centered approach for budgeting and ensuring the right investments in health and education are made. I believe that under the leadership of MPI, this policy will be implemented in all provinces,” said UNFPA Representative Mariam A Khan.

The population policy was first developed following the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), calling to integrate population into development planning towards achieving sustainable development. At the ICPD25, the Lao government reaffirmed its commitment to invest in the quality of data to inform the national development plans.

The Department of Planning of MPI led the process of NPDP revision incorporating population dynamics and building on the results of assessment of population issues. After the launch in Borikhamxay, MPI will continue to disseminate the policy in Luang Prabang with participation from the remaining provinces.

Source: Lao News Agency