Laos's Persistent Health Challenges

The chapter provides a general orientation to the field of health in Laos. It considers basic health data for the Lao population over time: birth rate, life expectancy, nutrition status, disease and morbidity, and health-related beliefs and the country’s achievements vis-à-vis the MDGs and SDGs. It explores the trend in cross-border health seeking, the increasing privatization of health services, the growth of health insurance, and Laos’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic. It sets these emerging issues in the context of the government’s efforts to respond to the populations health needs, including policies, funding, personnel, professional education and training, infrastructure, health services, and research and development, and anticipates future challenges and opportunities for the Lao health sector.