VIENTIANE – The health and nutrition of mothers, babies and young children in the remote areas of Lao PDR will receive a major boost – thanks to the launch of a joint UN-Ministry of Health programme on maternal, neonatal and child health, and nutrition in the provinces of Savannakhet, Phongsaly, Luangnamtha and Oudomxay.
In a meeting to launch the programme on 27 May, senior representatives from the Ministry of Health were joined by senior representatives from UNICEF, WFP, WHO and UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund. A similar launch was earlier held in Savannakhet on 23 May.
"Through good cooperation with our health colleagues and international partners, we believe this programme will help improve mother and child health and nutrition, and thus, also alleviate poverty in our target areas," said Deputy Minister of Health Dr. Bounkong Sihavong. "This is one of the Ministry of Health's topmost priorities to help our country achieve the Millennium Development Goals."
Despite major socio-economic improvements in the past decade, Lao PDR continues to hold some of the highest rates of maternal and child deaths, illnesses and disabilities in the region. This is compounded equally by high malnutrition rates.
"The programme is aimed at significantly reducing mortality and malnutrition rates among mothers, newborns and young children, and improving nutritional outcomes through increased leadership, enhanced services and community empowerment," said Dr. Yunguo Liu on behalf of the UN agencies.
The five-year programmatic support aims to integrate a full package of maternal, newborn and child health, and nutrition interventions by working with health managers to upgrade the services and build demand for services. In this joint effort, the four UN agencies will use their comparative advantages to support a range of essential activities that have direct impact on the health and nutrition status of mothers and children.
For more information, please contact:
Diego De La Rosa, tel. +856 21 315 547 ext 116, drosa@unfpa.org
