We'd like to thank everyone that responded to our last "Imagine this" email. Your financial support and words of encouragement are life-changing. In response to questions many of you had about the health situation in Laos we have attempted to give you a better picture of what we're dealing with and how much your support is needed and appreciated. 

The Facts: Laos remains the second poorest country in the Southeast Asian region, with some of the worst development indicators. Consider this; Laos has a population of roughly 6.3 million, around 80% of that population are still dependent on rural livelihoods. Currently 27% of people are living on less than $1 per day and a staggering 74% on less than $2 per day. That's over 4.6 million people struggling to survive everyday. Poverty is extensive and increasingly defined by geography and ethnicity - with the poor concentrated in districts located in the remote and ethnically diverse mountainous north. These remote areas have little or no infrastructure and suffer without basic essentials such as running water, education, health care, access to services or markets. 

Primary Health Care: The status in Laos is amongst the lowest in Southeast Asia, only 32% of the rural population have access to safe drinking water while only 20% have access to adequate sanitation. A heartbreaking 15% of children under 5 years of age die each year from preventable diarrheal disease with most of these deaths occurring in rural areas. Mothers who live in remote mountainous areas and who belong to an ethnic minority are 3 times more likely to die than compared to mothers living in Laos' urban areas. 

We have found in the areas we work that the health facilities, management structures and capacity of health staff at district and village level require much strengthening. There is usually only one district health centre facility which lacks essential medical equipment, facilities and medical supplies. Our field assessments have found that there is no access to safe drinking water in the villages. Most families collect their water from small streams or nearby rivers. These waterways are used for bathing and defecation as well as for household purposes like cooking and washing. Downstream villages use the same water sources. The villagers practice open defecation in and around their villages as there are no latrines in most villages. The open defecation of the population and their cattle combined with lack of solid waste management make the village and its surrounding a breeding ground for diseases. The 3 most common diseases in the target villages are diarrhoea, intestinal parasites and malaria. Diarrhoea and intestinal parasites are directly linked to hygiene and clean water, and malaria has an indirect relation to water and hygiene through the malaria-mosquito that breeds in water. However basic awareness of good health practices is extremely low. Most people don't know about basic hygiene practises like hand washing. 

Health education and promotion and improved access to clean water and latrines is needed to empower these communities to make healthy lifestyle choices. The greatest health risks are posed to mothers and children. Studies have shown that inadequate care and feeding practices, especially on breastfeeding and weaning, are among the underlying causes leading to the high levels of chronic malnutrition observed in our project areas. Women commonly go through their pregnancy and give birth in the village, without any antenatal medical advice or support. In the rare cases children are taken to medical care outside the village, additional risks are taken by travelling by foot for hours just to reach a district clinic which itself is limited in their ability to provide adequate health care. 

This picture is grim we know, but we are committed to doing our part to change this. The reality is that we cannot do this alone, we need your support and prayers. We encourage you to think about how best you can partner with us and help make a real difference. Can you raise awareness and support in your local church or community? Can you start a 'month of support' at your workplace? Or can your family partner with ADRA as your special project this year? Whatever it is that you decide to do, no matter how small, will make a big difference in the lives of children and mothers in Laos.

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Have you seen this?  Watch our latest film on the Water Sanitation & Health (WASH) sector of our health program.  Our HEALTH Program:  ADRA is supporting Laos in achieving theMillennium Development Goals 5 & 6 (Child Health & Combat HIV/AIDS), by equipping communities through education and training using simple, culturally contextualised and creative approaches that empower families to take control of their own health. ADRA also recognises the limitations to preventative behaviour, which is why we are also supporting the development of the governments’ rural health services through training, resourcing and partnership that works towards improved rural health care.  ADRA has been providing clean water and sanitary latrines for over 15 years. We work by partnering with rural communities in providing technical skills and oversight, training and some material and communities provide their labour and contribute some of the material. All construction is combined with locally contextualised hygiene and health training. Through this mechanism, we are constructing eco-friendly Gravity-Fed Systems (GFS) and family latrines that have proven to significantly improve the health of many communities. In line with the Millennium Development Goal 7 (target #3), we are committed to facilitating the provision of clean water and sanitation to the rural areas of Laos that do not have access to this basic human right.  Our HEALTH Partners:  ADRA Australia ADRA Canada  ADRA Germany  ADRA Netherlands  ADRA International  AusAID  BMZ  CIDA  Like to get involved?  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 safely make your secure donation by clicking here.  ADRA Laos serves all those in need without regard to ethnicity, gender, age, political or religious affiliation. Follow us on:

Dear Friends, we'd like you to do 1 of 2 things: 

1) watch this



2) if you're worried about your boss catching you watching another youtube video instead of 'working' then please keep reading below...

Clean water, good hygiene and a sanitary environment are something most of us take for granted.

Imagine if you couldn't just step into your tiled bathroom everyday when it was necessary to do so. Instead you just went outside somewhere, being careful not to step in something you might regret. 

Imagine if you had to walk many hours every day just to get water back to your house. And the water you do get is dirty and loaded with parasites. These parasites made your daughter, your sister or maybe your mother very sick and she died.

Imagine you didn't know that washing your hands before you ate kept you from getting sick. Your son should've gone to hospital, but there isn't one.

For most of us these things are too hard to comprehend. But for millions of people living in Laos, this is their everyday reality.

Can you imagine eating at home instead of taking your family out to dinner? That $40 will build a sanitary latrine for one family.

Can you imagine staying at home these summer holidays instead of going overseas? That $6,000 will supply a clean water system, fed from a local spring, to an entire community of hundreds of people.

Can you imagine wearing those leather shoes a few more months and not buying the latest pair of shoes this season? That $150 will provide life-changing health education for an entire community of hundreds of people.

Please put your imagination into action ------ DONATE NOW.

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.

After years of effort, ADRA in Laos recently celebrated the passing of a Tobacco Control Law by the Government of the Peoples Democratic Republic of Lao (Laos). Taking Laos from being one of the last countries in the world without any control over the sale, distribution, manufacturing, taxing and advertising of tobacco products, to join the majority of countries that have ratified the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).

Tobacco kills over 5 million people worldwide, which is more than HIV, Malaria and Tuberculosis put together, and this epidemic is one of the greatest public health challenges in the Southeast Asia region as 1 in 4 of the deaths that occur from the effects of tobacco occur in this region. Not only is this a tragic loss of human life, but it also causes a huge strain on Laos’ already under-equipped public health service. In Laos, it is estimated that 59% of males and 13% of females smoke.

For the last 12 years ADRA’s Tobacco Program has been leading the way in different aspects of advocating, training and educating the government and people of Laos on the health risks of tobacco and on the importance of having a tobacco control law. Commenting on why the law is so important for the people of Laos, Grant Hillier - Country Director of ADRA in Laos said, “…Laos is a country of diverse ethnicity and low health literacy. Warning statements on tobacco products in Lao are insufficient to enable much of the population to make an informed choice. Tobacco advertising extensively promotes the product and encourages consumption to a vulnerable target population. The passing of the law will benefit citizens of all ages, education level, ethnicity and affluence across the country.”

ADRA’s tobacco program, financed by Bloomberg Philanthropies through the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, continues now to support and build the capacity of the governments’ Ministry of Health as they commence the implementation process of enacting the law. Among other things, this means that ADRA is active in communicating, through mass media campaigns, messages that will help the general public understand what the new law means for them. ADRA is informing people of what they can expect from their government, business, workplace and public-space environments.

ADRA wishes to thank our valuable partners; Tobacco Free Kids, ADRA Australia, AUSAID, TIMA, American Cancer Society, Cancer Research UK and the Framework Convention Alliance.

WHAT ELSE ARE WE DOING?
Laos is the 2nd poorest country in Southeast Asia and has some of the lowest development indicators in the region. The heartbreaking reality is that 29% of the population still lives below $1 USD per day and 74% below $2 USD per day leaving many poor households vulnerable to shocks that could push them back into extreme poverty.

ADRA is supporting the government and people of Laos in its efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals and their national development priorities. We do this by working to reduce poverty and achieve sustainable development, improved health, improved food security and land management, improved education and increased resilience to (and protection from) socio-economic risks that come with change and development.

WHAT’S NEXT?
Laos has the unique advantage of being Asia’s least populated country, with only a very small urban centre and population. ADRA is looking at ways to promote a “liveable-cities” model that nurtures and supports eco-friendly existence and growth for its inhabitants. Keeping the needs and requirements of Laos’ children at the centre of ADRA’s approach will ensure that key issues such as safety and public green spaces are addressed. We are in the research stage of this innovative new program and welcome your thoughts, prayers and financial support as we strive to develop and strengthen the future of cities like Vientiane in Laos.

LIKE TO GET INVOLVED?
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 on the site on how we could improve it further.

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 or by going to www.adralaos.org/getinvolved/donate.html

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