Our projects
An overview of the work of the Swiss Laos Hospital Project
Gynaecology & obstetrics working group
This speciality was first introduced in Laos in 1999 by Urs Lauper, the founder of the association. He supported the Mother and Newborn Hospital in Vientiane with the aim of reducing the high maternal and infant mortality rates. The focus was, and remains, on the training and further education of gynaecologists and midwives.
In consultation with the Ministry of Health, the programme was gradually expanded from the capital to other hospitals across the country. Projects were implemented to improve hygiene, provide clean drinking water, ensure safe umbilical cord care and carry out HIV screening. New priorities include the monitoring of high-risk pregnancies and the introduction of perinatal conferences in collaboration with neonatologists.
Neonatology working group
Our neonatologists frequently work at the Mother and Newborn Hospital (MNH) in Vientiane, where they have a highly competent and dedicated partner in the head of the neonatal department, Dr Vesaphong Phommady. Together, over the years, they have built the MNH into the country’s leading teaching hospital in the field of neonatology.
In addition, the neonatology team regularly visits various other hospitals across the country to share specialist knowledge, donate equipment (e.g. incubators) or facilitate building works in the neonatal units. Since 2003, our team, led by Dr Marion Mönkhoff, has established a total of seven neonatal units.
General practitioners working group
Since 2008, Swiss general practitioners have been on four missions a year in the district hospital of Muang Kham (Xieng Khouang province), based on the initiative of Dr. Elisabeth Bandi-Ott, MD. The focus is on the further training of doctors and nursing staff in general medicine – either during rounds at the patient's bedside or through lectures. Swiss doctors also provide technical and financial support for the hospital laboratory. Since 2014, the group of general practitioners has also been regularly present at the Nong Het District Hospital. Dr. Nathalie Brunner, MD is head of this group since 2024.
Hospital partnership Phonsavan–KSW
As part of the partnership between the Provincial Hospital Phonsavan and the Cantonal Hospital Winterthur KSW, KSW employees have been working on a regular basis in Laos since 2010. They contribute their medical, nursing or technical expertise and in return gain insights into the working and living conditions of their Laotian colleagues.
This cooperation is coordinated by Verein Spitalpartnerschaft Phonsavan (Laos) & Kantonsspital Winterthur. Although this association is legally independent of our project, it is part of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Lao Ministry of Health and the Swiss Laos Hospital Project. Both in Switzerland and Laos, the two associations work closely together, and the hospital partnership is also represented on the SLHP board.
Shipping of Materials
Every year the Swiss Laos Hospital Project sends a shipping container full of donations in kind to Laos. These include ultrasound equipment, operating tables, incubators, infusion pumps and monitors, as well as work clothing and consumables. These donations come from Swiss hospitals and medical practices. Our volunteers collect, sort and pack the material in Switzerland - and in Laos they ensure the sensible distribution of the donations in kind to the individual hospitals.
Internships for Bachelors of Medicine
Since 2016 the Swiss Laos Hospital Project has been arranging one-month internships at the Mother and Child Hospital (MCH) in the Laotian capital Vientiane. The MCH is the most important training hospital in gynaecology, obstetrics and neonatology in Laos.
Scholarships
District hospitals in particular often lack trained specialists. Resident doctors with potential therefore receive scholarships from the Swiss Laos Hospital Project for a 3- to 6-month training course in Vientiane Capital. These scholarships are provided on the condition that the doctors return to their hospital after the training.
HIV Project
The Prevention of Transmission of HIV from Mother to Child (PMCT) project is based at the Mother and Newborn Hospital (MNH) in Vientiane. It has been supported by the Swiss Laos Hospital Project for many years and aims to prevent the transmission of HIV from infected mothers to their children during pregnancy, birth and breastfeeding.
Hospital Management
In addition to providing medical training, our project also aims to strengthen management in the Laotian hospitals. This way we want to contribute to better patient care and more efficient use of resources. In concrete terms, our specialists advise the Ministry of Health on questions of hospital management and accompany corresponding pilot projects in the hospitals. In addition, we regularly organise one-week courses for hospital managers in which we share knowledge and skills in hospital management and organisation. Since the introduction of these courses for managers in 2017, we have been able to train more than 400 members of middle and senior management.
Psychiatry
Psychiatry is the latest field of activity of the Swiss Laos Hospital Project. In Laos, there is practically no medical and nursing care for the mentally ill. The Swiss Laos Hospital Project therefore supports a basic development project in psychiatry, which is being set up by a team of specialists in psychiatry and psychotherapy.