USAID Country Representative to the Lao PDR Michael Ronning presented 70,000 mosquito nets, 450,000 malaria diagnostic kits, along with 200,000 tablets of antimalarial drugs, valued at more than US$530,000 to Minister of Health Bounfeng Phommalaysith at a ceremony in Vientiane on Sep 10.
The malaria commodities, funded by the United States through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the United States of America’s President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI), will be distributed to public health facilities and community health workers in areas of the Lao PDR where malaria cases remain high.
This donation will assist the Government of the Lao PDR to maintain stocks of these important tools in the fight against malaria even during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Health assistance is a central part of the U.S.-Lao Comprehensive Partnership, which celebrates its fifth anniversary this year. The United States is proud to continue working with the Lao PDR government and our public health partners through this contribution of lifesaving supplies to prevent and treat malaria, and to support the Lao PDR in its mission to eliminate malaria by 2030,” said Mr. Ronning.
The handover is the most recent example of U.S. support to the Lao PDR in combating malaria. Together with this donation, USAID has provided technical assistance, supplied equipment, and distributed more than 800,000 mosquito nets, nearly one million diagnostic test kits, and antimalarial drugs and treatments, valued at more than US$4.73 million over the past 10 years.
The United States will continue its support through a recently-launched new project to support the National Malaria Programme. Separately, the United States has provided assistance to the Lao Government valued at nearly US$10 million in the fight against COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic.
In July 2021, the United States donated more than one million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine to the Lao PDR as part of President Biden’s effort to end the pandemic around the world.
The United States’ development assistance to the Lao PDR spans more than a decade. USAID has supported the Lao PDR to fight various infectious diseases, improve maternal and child health and nutrition, and enabled persons with disabilities to live to their full potential.
Source: Lao News Agency