Dr. Shogo Kubota facilitates a CONNECT workshop together with government partners to strengthen local health governance in Vang Vieng district, Vientiane province.©WHO/Bart Verweij
Dr Kubota, a medical officer and team lead of the Reproductive, Maternal and Child Health unit in the World Health Organization (WHO) Lao PDR country office, was awarded a Field Impact Award for his collaboration with the Government to improve health governance and primary healthcare during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.
Dr Kubota and the WHO team embarked on shifting responsibility for primary health care from being exclusively a health sector-led activity to the governance sector. This has been a true game-changer for strengthening local governance for primary health care and enhanced community engagement.
Key to these efforts is the CONNECT initiative (Community Network Engagement for COVID-19 Responses and Essential Healthcare through Trust), which was co-developed with government partners. The initiative aims to empower locally-led action to develop collaborative solutions for improved community health, especially for the most vulnerable members of society. This has led to significant changes, such as better support for the families of people infected with COVID-19, and more women choosing to give birth in healthcare facilities. Read more about the CONNECT initiative.
Villagers and health staff in Khoun district, Xieng Khouang province together create a map of their community to identify the main challenges, needs and resources in essential healthcare and COVID-19 prevention and response. This helps them to develop collaborative solutions for improved community health, especially for the most vulnerable members of society. ©WHO/Thidalat Phanthavong
The CONNECT initiative also aims to overcome challenges of scalability and sustainability by utilizing existing resources and becoming integrated into government policy and plans. Notably, it encourages the local government to become the main driver for strengthening local accountability for COVID-19 responses and primary healthcare beyond COVID-19. This approach has enhanced local authorities’ ownership of protecting and improving community health, resulting in sustainable community services. For instance, many district governors have committed to implementing the initiative using local funds.
Building on the success of CONNECT, the Minister of Home Affairs and the Minister of Health have signed a memorandum of understanding to further strengthen local health governance under a policy known as SamSang (or the “three levels of decentralization” – village, district and province). The two ministries plan to expand the CONNECT initiative nationwide to empower every district governor to further scale up and sustain local authorities’ leadership in primary healthcare.
The CONNECT initiative also prioritizes building trust as the vehicle for improving community health during COVID-19 and beyond, by creating a safe space for mutual understanding and learning. It strengthens relationships and communication between community members and primary healthcare providers, leading to increased community ownership – for example, healthcare providers creating opinion boxes to invite villagers to help them improve their services. The feedback mechanisms established can also contribute to quality improvement and inform hospital accreditation processes.
Community members of Sangthong district, Vientiane province work together to build a bamboo "tower of good health," developing teamwork and the ability to utilize local resources in improving community health as one of the activities of the CONNECT initiative, co-designed with government partners and supported by WHO. ©WHO/Elizabeth Elliott.
Dr Kubota said, “I feel honoured to receive the Field Impact Award from the Regional Director of WHO’s Western Pacific Region, Dr Takeshi Kasai, as it acknowledges the work of our team and the Government of Lao PDR. When I learned that I was selected for this award, our team members were spread out across the country conducting community engagement and local governance workshops with governors, villagers and front-line healthcare workers.’’
“The Field Impact Award made all of us truly happy because it highlighted exactly the outcomes we have been striving for, which is to make tangible improvements in community health,” he said.
In response to the news of the award, Lao PDR WHO Representative Dr Ying-Ru Jacqueline Lo expressed her appreciation for the work of Dr Kubota, his team and the Government of Lao PDR.
Dr. Lo commented, “This award recognizes the strong collaboration between WHO, different sectors of the government of Lao PDR, partners and many people in the country. Together, we have achieved a lot. There are opportunities to continue to grow our impact by further enhancing community engagement, local governance and healthcare quality to maximize opportunities for improving the health of the people of Lao PDR.”
CONNECT is supported by USAID, the US Department of State, KOFIH, and the European Union.