Public health
Development assistance for health sector
Australia aids community infrastructure projects
The Australian Consulate General in HCM City on February 22 awarded Direct Aid Programme grants worth more than around US$144,500 to 11 projects for the 2016-17 period. The projects, based in the central and southern regions, span a range of sectors from community healthcare to small-scale ...
Hidden victims of war on drugs
Cambodia’s war on drugs is in full swing, routinely grabbing headlines as ever-growing numbers of suspects – more than 4,000 so far, most of them users – swell the Kingdom’s jails. But behind the high-profile raids, the campaign is having an alarming, albeit hidden, side ...
WHO expands support to health sector
The World Health Organisation has forecast a budget of over US$2 million in assistance to Laos from 2017 to 2018 to improve the health sector in the country. On February 21, the WHO confirmed that it will continue to provide around US$2 million in support ...
Malaysian aid ship docks in Bangladesh
A Malaysian aid ship arrived in Bangladesh on February 13 carrying aid for hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims who have fled from Arakan State, many citing abuses by the Myanmar’s security forces. A representative of the mission on the ship said it would unload ...
Healthcare budget hit
The growing elderly population is putting pressure on the universal healthcare scheme, forcing officials to seek fresh funding. The National Health Security Office, which operates the scheme, has submitted a Bt164-billion budget request for the next fiscal year but ended up getting just Bt151 billion. “We ...
Hand, foot, mouth disease alert
The Health Ministry’s Communicable Disease Control department has urged people to be cautious of the spread of hand, food and mouth disease and asked that infants or children displaying symptoms be brought to seek medical treatment immediately. Ministry spokesperson and director of the CDC Ly Sovann ...
Vietnam to provide new hospitals for Huaphan, Xieng Khuang
Huaphan and Xieng Khuang provinces will soon have much-needed modern hospitals funded by the Vietnamese government. Deputy Director of the Planning and Investment Department in Huaphan province, Mr Mayleuy Phimmasone, told Vientiane Times the Vietnamese government had agreed to grant an estimated US$24 million to ...
Medics assess developments in internal medicine
Development partners along with the line Health Departments of each province under the Ministry of Health met on February 9 in Vientiane to discuss the provision of better healthcare in the field of internal medicine. The 14th Lao Internal Medicine Conference was chaired by the President ...
WHO extends support for health sector reform
The World Health Organisation is providing US$2.1 million in initial assistance for the strengthening of healthcare services in Laos. With US$11.3 million committed for 2016-17, the amount of funding has increased by 22 percent over 2014-15. An agreement for the funding was signed in Vientiane ...
ADB supports health security in Laos, Mekong region
The Asian Development Bank and the government on February 4 signed an agreement for a US$12 million loan and grant package from 2017 to 2022, to bolster health security in 12 provinces of Laos and the Greater Mekong Subregion. The package will support the government’s efforts ...