A few months ago we were successful in supporting the government in passing a new Tobacco Control Law through its highest decision making body, the National Assembly.

However, passing the law is not enough. The country now has the tough job of putting this new law into practice and then implementing it according to the government’s plan and resources. This will be an enormous challenge for Lao PDR. The current political will, public support, capacity, and resources indicate much potential for success, but policymakers will need a lot of support at the beginning in order to facilitate an environment that will make it most likely for the implementation to succeed and not be sidelined by other priorities or be compromised due to tobacco industry influence. Public support is also critical for successful implementation.

As such, our newly approved Ready, Start, Law! project, funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies through the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, will work on two fronts: on supporting the  government in their implementation and on building public support for the law.  The support to the government will be primarily through the Ministry of Health  and the Law Committee who were the key government bodies that succeeded in leading the law through to approval. The support will focus on key areas of  involvement where ADRA has substantial experience and expertise, including  education and dissemination, workshops and training on practical implementation at national and provincial level, monitoring within the constraints of limited resources, and a focus on early and strategic enforcement of compliance. The building of public  support will be done through a public awareness campaign that will inform the general public that the law is now in place and what it entails in simple terms as well as working closely with the media to engage their support.

Over the next 18 months we will work with the Ministry of Health an the Law Committee towards putting the words of the law into action, and helping the benefits of the law be realised in the daily lives of the general public. Any endeavour like this promises to have its challenges, and as always we appreciate your prayers and support.

Check out our new website  www.adralaos.org and take a more in-depth look at what we are doing and where. We’d love to get your feedback.

As a Christian development organisation we believe that your prayers will make a real difference to the work we do here. Also we gladly accept your financial support and you can make your secure donation by clicking here.

ADRA Laos serves all those in need without regard to ethnicity, gender, age, or political or religious affiliation.