COVID-19 pandemic in Laos

COVID-19 Pandemic: How can we help?

The COVID-19 pandemic has also reached Laos. Due to the already limited resources in the healthcare system in the country, it is essential to prevent the spread of the corona virus as far as possible. According to current knowledge, this has been successfully achieved: Laos only has a low double-digit number of COVID-19 cases (as of mid-May 2020).

All our volunteers were able to return to Switzerland just before the borders were closed and the lock-down was imposed on 1 April 2020. However, we are still in regular contact with our partners in the various hospitals.

The board of the Swiss Laos Hospital Project currently meets every two weeks by video conference to assess the situation. At short notice, it has agreed on a substantial amount of money for the fight against COVID-19 and transferred it to Laos so that protective material, disinfectants, but also articles for daily hygiene use such as soap or detergents can be purchased locally.

Although procurement is not easy in Laos at the moment, the provincial hospital in Phonsavan was able to buy urgently needed material from our funds. In addition, our container, which was unloaded in Vientiane on 18 March 2020, also contained 6,000 protective masks from Switzerland, which are now most welcome.

Many governments and NGOs are currently transferring aid funds to Laos, which will be used to centrally procure relief supplies and then distribute them to the provinces. The board of the Swiss Laos Hospital Project has therefore decided not to put our comparatively modest funds into this large pool, but to donate them directly to our partner hospitals who ask us for help.

If you would like to support our work, we would be happy about every donation!