Laos

JSI has a long record of working with local partners, including government agencies, community associations, and private institutions to improve public health in Laos.

Currently, our work in the country is dedicated to achieving improved health and nutrition outcomes among pregnant and postpartum women, newborns, children, and adolescents across 5 provinces of Laos. Through the USAID Laos Maternal Child Health and Nutrition Program (2022-2026), we bolster support to national, provincial, and district health partners to build equitable access toward highest quality reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, adolescent health, and nutrition programs. Our goal is to ultimately ensure that each of the communities we serve will be strengthened to act as active agents of change in quality, access, and use of services, and the adoption of behaviors to improve health outcomes for women and children.

JSI led child health, immunization, and pediatric HIV activities for the USAID-supported Maternal and Child Survival Program (MCSP) (2014-2018), tackling these issues using health systems strengthening, household and community mobilization, gender integration, and digital health strategies. Our USAID-funded Advancing Partners and Communities project (2012-2019) worked in 38 countries, including Laos, to improve access to, and availability of reproductive, maternal, newborn, and child health services within primary health care facilities and communities by upgrading infrastructure, building capacity of health clinic personnel, and facilitating stronger engagement with communities.

Previously, JSI partnered with John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health IVAC and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control to implement the Rotavirus Accelerated Vaccine Introduction Network (RAVIN) (2016-2020), providing technical support to countries considering introducing the vaccine into their national immunization programs. In addition to Laos, JSI worked closely with ministries of health and partners in Cambodia, Myanmar, and Nepal to support the successful introduction of the vaccine.

JSI managed the Using Measles Activities to Strengthen Immunization and Surveillance (UMASIS) project, which improved routine immunization and surveillance in Laos using existing measles inoculation programs and resources.

JSI also improved the supply chain system in Laos through the USAID DELIVER PROJECT. JSI bolstered commodity procurement and delivery systems that prepared facilities and clinics for potential avian and pandemic influenza outbreaks. A follow-up program, Emerging Pandemic Threats, increased the flexibility and preparedness of the Lao health system to respond to a range of potential outbreaks by securing essential commodities and training personnel in fast and efficient delivery methods.