The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) on 13 September officially announced a grant of USD 2 million to help support the readiness, delivery, and monitoring of COVID-19 vaccines to Lao PDR and to strengthen the country’s cold chain system. The grant will contribute towards strengthening Lao PDR’s overall capacity to deliver safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines. The USAID grant to UNICEF and the WHO was announced at a ceremony held at the Ministry of Health and chaired by Minister of Health Dr. Bounfeng Phoummalaysith, U.S. Ambassador to Lao PDR Dr. Peter M. Haymond, UNICEF Country Representative to Lao PDR Pia Rebello Britto, and the WHO Officer-in-Charge to Lao PDR Dr. Jun Gao.
Minister of Health, US ambassadors and representative from Ministry of Health, USAID, UNICEF and WHO at the event ©WHO/Vannaseng Insal
USAID’s support will accelerate the implementation of the National Deployment and Vaccination plan for COVID-19 in Lao PDR by ensuring the health system's readiness for vaccine delivery. This funding will also be used to support the Ministry of Health in strengthening the regulations and policies for vaccine administration and safety. It will also contribute towards enabling COVID-19 vaccines to be safely distributed and disposed of after use; improve the monitoring and evaluation of COVID-19 vaccine roll-out, and expand pre-registration via the https://vaccinatelaos.la/ website for better documentation.
With this support, UNICEF will work on strengthening Lao PDR’s cold chain and logistics capacity, including the operationalization of cold chain hubs in Luang Prabang, Saravanh, Savannakhet, Oudomxay, Champasak and Vientiane.
Minister Bounfeng commended USAID’s contribution and highlighted the growing partnership between the United States and Lao PDR, he stated that “USAID’s funding will greatly improve our ability to accelerate and monitor the progress in rolling out COVID-19 vaccination throughout Lao PDR, especially as we work towards the achievement of our goal of 50% coverage by the end of 2021. We appreciate the comprehensive support to accelerate the delivery of life-saving COVID-19 vaccines to reach people across the country, particularly those living in more remote areas”.
Ambassador Haymond congratulated the Government of Lao PDR on its successful efforts in keeping the public safe from COVID-19 and highlighted the growing U.S. Lao Comprehensive Partnership, which commemorates its five-year anniversary this year. “It is my hope that this grant from USAID to UNICEF and WHO will contribute towards strengthening all aspects of COVID-19 vaccinations in Lao PDR, as well as the health system more generally and the human resource capacity underpinning it. The United States is proud to support the implementation of the National Deployment and Vaccination Plan for COVID-19 vaccines and the acceleration of COVID-19 vaccination coverage in Lao PDR,” stated Ambassador Haymond.
WHO Officer-in-Charge to Lao PDR Dr. Jun Gao gives his speech at the event ©WHO/Vannaseng Insal
Dr. Gao stated, “Immunization is critical to ending the COVID-19 pandemic, saving lives and reducing socio-economic disruption, so expanding the reach of COVID-19 vaccinations is vital for Lao PDR, especially as more provinces are reporting an increase in COVID-19 cases. WHO is extremely grateful to USAID for this financial support which will allow us to expand our technical support to MOH in the deployment of COVID-19 vaccines as well as strengthen the delivery of routine immunization and other essential health services more generally.”
UNICEF Country Representative Britto said, “We would like to express our sincerest thanks to USAID for this timely grant, which will help accelerate our current progress towards the vaccination goals set out by the Government of Lao PDR. I would like to take this opportunity to commend the Government of Lao PDR for the school re-opening and for focusing on prioritizing the vaccination of teachers and education staff, which are among measures that build confidence in the re-opening of schools which is central to children’s development, learning, safety and well-being.”
Group photo of Minister of Health (middle left), US ambassadors (middle right) and representative from Ministry of Health, USAID, UNICEF and WHO in front of the Ministry's building ©WHO/Vannaseng Insal
Previous assistance from USAID to UNICEF and the WHO has also supported Lao PDR in training for frontline workers, nurses and doctors, providing medical and laboratory equipment, and reopening schools safely and helping children throughout Lao PDR continue to learn.
For more information, please contact:
Fatoumata Tandiang, Chief of Communication OIC, UNICEF Lao PDR, +33629793337, ftandiang@unicef.org
Vannaseng Insal, Communication Consultant, WHO, insalv@who.int
About USAID
USAID leads international development and humanitarian efforts to save lives, reduce poverty, strengthen democratic governance and help people progress beyond assistance. In Laos, USAID partners with the Government of Laos in a variety of areas to improve health and nutrition, promote basic education, facilitate trade and investment, counter trafficking in persons, and strengthen the rule of law.
For more information, visit https://www.usaid.gov/laos. Follow USAID on Twitter and Facebook.
About WHO
The World Health Organization provides global leadership in public health within the United Nations system. Founded in 1948, WHO works with 194 Member States, across six regions and from more than 150 offices, to promote health, keep the world safe and serve the vulnerable. Our goal for 2019-2023 is to ensure that a billion more people have universal health coverage, to protect a billion more people from health emergencies, and provide a further billion people with better health and wellbeing.
For updates on COVID-19 and public health advice to protect yourself from coronavirus, visit www.who.int and follow WHO on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, Pinterest, Snapchat, YouTube
About UNICEF
UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, to build a better world for everyone. For more information about UNICEF and its work for children in Lao PDR, visit: