Luang Namtha Province is named after the Namtha River; accessibility to these villages and those in the remote mountains is a challenge for the health workers delivering polio vaccine to the community.
Ethnic communities namely Arka, Khmu, Hmong and Ler live by the river and depend on it for their livelihoods
Families do their chores on the river
Children enjoying a swim in the hot afternoon sun
Health workers check the children for the finger-marked wherever they find them
Even backwater villages are not spared from the recent economic developments seen in the province
While construction continues in some villages, others are leaving their villages due to a mega dam construction upstream, the company is relocating the villagers
One of three health centre; which may be closed this month as six out of seven villages in their catchment areas have been relocated
Community gathered when the Rapid Convenience Monitoring team arrived to check that the children are vaccinated
All “missed” children under fifteen were given the polio vaccine
Rapid Convenience Monitoring (RCM) activity is a process to identify pockets of unvaccinated “missed” children. It is not a formal coverage assessment and it does not provide statistically valid coverage estimates; but it gives feedback to the Ministry of Health on identified areas where there are still number of “missed” children so that mop-up activities needs to follow up.