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LAOS – Luxembourg Cooperation supports Lao PDR’s efforts to tackle COVID-19Solidarity does not stop at our borders!
Luxembourg Cooperation, through its Lao-Luxembourg Health Sector Support Programme - Phase II (LAO/027) implemented by LuxDev, is supporting the Government of Lao PDR in its response to COVID-19 pandemic.
The Government of Lao PDR together with its international counterparts have reacted rapidly to the COVID-19 pandemic and have launched a national COVID-19 procurement list to facilitate the coordination of support and to deliver a strong and coordinated response at national and subnational levels.
LAO/027 is providing supplies and technical support in areas where gaps in capacity and resources have been identified. More specifically, LAO/027 Provincial Health Planning Management Advisors (HPMA) and Nurse-Midwife Trainers Advisors (NMTA) are closely supporting the COVID-19 preparedness in the three Provinces of Vientiane, Bolikhamxay and Khammouane that Luxembourg supports.
New In Patient Department at Bolikhamxay hospital
To ensure the efficiency and efficacy of its contribution, LAO/027 is:
- coordinating its support with national counterparts and other international development partners in Lao PDR;
- following the World Health Organization (WHO) Guidelines as well as international literature on COVID-19 emergency preparedness.
Sample taking
The LuxDev team is communicating on a daily basis with the National and Provincial Health Departments (PHDs), District Health Offices (DHOs) as well as with Provincial and District Hospitals to address the identified gaps and needs.
At the provincial level, LAO/027 is:
- providing support in the establishment of temporary provincial isolation and treatment centers to protect patients from infections and to separate COVID-19 patients from other ongoing essential non-COVID care (e.g. deliveries, surgeries, MNCH);
- working with PHDs and DHOs on regulating patient flows in the designated facilities (adequate first line clinical management, separate registration of suspected patients, sample taking and transportation to laboratories, hospitalization of confirmed patients, referral systems for critically ill patients);
- promoting the elaboration and dissemination of management and clinical procedures;
- supporting facility mapping and the Health Information System (HIS)
Training school
Moreover, LAO/027 is providing urgent logistics support. The Program is assisting the provincial authorities in operationalizing their provincial response by purchasing specialized medical devices and other supplies (i.e. acquisition of personal protective equipment, beds, fans, refrigerators, oxygen, disinfectant hydrogels, alcohol, pulse oximeters, among others).
Emergency equipment and medical supplies
So far equipment worth 107.000 EUR has been purchased and dispatched to the Provinces of Vientiane, Bolikhamxay and Khammouane.
The procurement needs and gaps will be continuously updated by the PHDs/ DHOs and will be shared in the coming weeks.
In these unprecedented times, besides the LAO/027 support, Luxembourg will continue to provide every support to its partner countries including Lao PDR. The proposed Luxembourg intervention engages at the national and provincial levels. The current budget proposal of Luxembourg for COVID-19 Health Response is 2 million EUR.
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