WHO Regional Director for the Western Pacific Dr Shin Young-soo is on an official visit to Lao People’s Democratic Republic. During his visit, he will launch the new WHO-Laos Country Cooperation Strategy (CCS) for 2017 to 2021 and join the inaugural meeting of the Health Professional Council and Boards.
“Sustaining the Lao Government’s health improvements, and supporting the Government to address emerging health challenges will be at the heart of WHO’s work in the country over the next five years,” said Dr Shin Young-soo.
This strategy or CCS provides the mid-term vision for WHO and Lao People's Democratic Republic to work together for the next five years. It affirms the constructive partnership between WHO and the Ministry of Health to support health sector reform and its quest to achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC). It follows the Eighth Five Year Health Sector Development Plan for 2016 to 2020 and the Eighth National Social and Economic Development Plan for 2016 to 2020.
In the new era of the Sustainable Development Goals, this is crucially important. UHC can help Lao People's Democratic Republic to further reduce poverty across the country, and thus achieve greater health equity. In this way, investing in UHC can help to ensure that everyone is able to enjoy the benefits of the country’s rapid economic growth in line with the set goal to graduate from Least Developed Country status by 2020.
WHO and Lao People’s Democratic Republic agreed on five key directions for the country - first, to build a resilient health system towards UHC so that everyone will have access to health services they need at a price they can afford. Next, it will improve the service delivery of public health programmes so as to reach the vulnerable groups and protect the public against vaccine preventable diseases like polio, measles and rubella and to ensure that every child grows up to lead a happy, healthy life.
To enhance health security, WHO will work with Laos on finishing the job on the International Health Regulations, to guard against emerging infectious diseases, as well as other pressing global challenges such as antimicrobial resistance. There is a need to facilitate effective policy and dialogue to harmonize the work of health development partners and promote multisectoral approaches, as many drivers of these key health challenges are outside the health sector.
Finally, to support Laos to be a strong health partner in the Greater Mekong Subregion and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) – knowing that regional cooperation is essential in addressing shared challenges, like artemisinin resistant strains of malaria and schistosomiasis, WHO will continue to deliver country support in implementation of key regional policies and strategies.
In the spirit of continued solidarity and partnership, WHO will work to support the Government to these five key directions into action. Dr Shin said “I trust that this CCS will guide us well over the next five years, as we work together to improve the health of the people in the Lao People's Democratic Republic.”
Regional Director Dr Shin Young-soo (left) and Health Minister of Lao PDR, Dr Bounkong Syhavong at the signing ceremony of the Country Cooperation Strategy
The signing ceremony was witnessed by Head of UN agencies, ambassadors and director-general of Ministry of Health