On 30 September 2025, the Sector Working Group for Health met in Vientiane to discuss the new draft 10th Health Sector Development Plan (2026-2030), and review progress on the 9th Health Sector Development Plan (2021-2025).
The meeting, involving the Ministry of Health, co-chairs WHO and the @Embassy of Japan, and a wide array of development partners, provided an opportunity to agree key health priorities and coordinate support for accelerating progress toward universal health coverage and health-related sustainable development goals in the country.
Lao PDR has made remarkable health progress in recent years, with particularly noteworthy improvements in maternal and child health and communicable diseases. For example, maternal deaths per 100,000 live births fell by 81.6% from 2000 to 2023, while malaria cases declined by 85% since 2022, to fewer than 350 in 2024.
“The development of the 10th Health Sector Development Plan comes at a pivotal time for Lao PDR,” said Dr Christopher Fitzpatrick, Deputy WHO Representative to Lao PDR. “Transformative improvements in health demonstrate that success is possible, but we also see the work that remains.”
“As Lao PDR faces a potential decline in international assistance, our focus must be on maximizing resources and efficiencies: securing adequate domestic funding through health taxes, identifying a clear set of priorities with clearly mapped partner support through data-driven planning and implementation and monitoring, and increasing joint accountability to address the key challenges in the health sector; intensifying our focus on emerging health threats like Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) and climate change; and prioritizing the poor and most vulnerable populations. These areas are critical for building a sustainable health system that can achieve universal health coverage and leave no one behind.”
Documentation:The full meeting report and related documents are available for download at:
For Lao language, click the link here.
For more information:
Contact: Mr. Santi Songnavong
Director of International Organization Division
International Finance and Cooperation Department, Ministry of Finance
Tel: +856 20 2222 3989
Email: songnavong@gmail.com/rtpsecretariat@gmail.com