SYDNEY - The WHO Collaborating Centre in Health Workforce Development in Rehabilitation and Long-Term Care at the University of Sydney, Australia and the Centre for Medical Rehabilitation Vientiane have been working together to improve the inclusiveness of Lao's health services, specifically for people with disabilities.
In April 2014 the WHO collaborating centre led a situation analysis of Lao's rehabilitation sector. The analysis used a tool developed by the WHO collaborating centre, adapting WHO's health systems building blocks model to rehabilitation. The project involved desk review, field visits and interviews with over 20 key stakeholders from the Ministry of Health, Centre for Medical Rehabilitation, National Lao Disabled People’s Association, the Lao University of Health Sciences, international nongovernmental organizations and other nongovernmental organizations. A consultation on disability and rehabilitation was also convened with over 65 participants from across the country.
Based on the findings of the situation analysis and with guidance from WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific, the stakeholders started work on developing the National Disability Inclusive Health and Rehabilitation Strategy and Action Plan. This included development of a five-year plan on the sidelines of a regional rehabilitation meeting in June 2014.
In August 2014, a two day national rehabilitation forum was held in Vientiane with over 150 participants from the ministries of health, labour and social welfare and education. The forum contributed to revising the draft strategy and action plan, which was then workshopped with provincial rehabilitation units and other stakeholders over the next six months.
In June 2015, Professor Gwynnyth Llewellyn of the WHO collaborating centre visited provincial centres in the Lao People's Democratic Republic and interviewed stakeholders on workforce issues. The outcome was the report Capacity Assessment and Development of Plan to Increase Capacity of Laos Rehabilitation Workforce.
In parallel, the WHO Collaborating Centre also worked with the Lao University of Health Sciences in Vientiane, the Lao People's Democratic Republic and SingHealth to attract funds from the Singapore Investment Fund to develop a medium and longer term strategy to build capacity in the allied health sciences curricula at the University.
In late 2015 the draft National Disability Inclusive Health and Rehabilitation Strategy and Action Plan was presented to the Ministry of Health for consideration along with a three-year budget for implementation. The strategy and action plan was approved and is now being implemented through a rehabilitation task force with members within the Ministry of Health, Healthcare Department and five sub-task forces on: services and assistive technologies, human resources and training, management, health information systems and data collection, community-based rehabilitation and finance.