Working Group on Gynaecology and Obstetrics
Reducing child and maternal mortality in Laos
Child and maternal mortality rates in Laos are high – around 10 times higher than in Switzerland. Many of these deaths could be prevented. The Gynaecology and Obstetrics Unit of the Swiss Laos Hospital Project is therefore working to improve medical care for pregnant women and new mothers, as well as gynaecological care for women in Laos. Thanks to our long-standing partnership with the Mother and Newborn Hospital in Vientiane, we have already achieved a great deal. But there is still much to be done.
The provision of specialised care for HIV-positive pregnant women was the starting point for the Swiss Laos Hospital Project and remains an important part of our work to this day.
Preventing the transmission of HIV to newborns
Obstetrics is the oldest specialist area at the Swiss Laos Hospital Project: when Dr Urs Lauper – then a senior doctor at the Department of Obstetrics at the University Hospital Zurich – first travelled to Laos in 1999, his aim was to prevent the transmission of HIV from mothers to their newborns.
Together with the Director of the Mother and Child Hospital in Vientiane, Prof. Dr Bouavanh Sensathit, he launched a project that includes HIV testing for pregnant women and medical care for those who test positive for HIV. The Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission (PMCT) project is still running. Well over 10,000 pregnant women are now tested each year, around 1 per cent of whom test positive.
Improvements in ultrasound diagnostics
In addition, the gynaecology and obstetrics specialist group is particularly committed to improving prenatal diagnostics through ultrasound scans and laboratory tests. This involves, on the one hand, the professional training of Laotian hospital staff by gynaecologists and obstetricians from Switzerland.
On the other hand, we are constantly working to improve the often inadequate technical equipment in Laotian hospitals: over the past 20 years, for example, we have shipped several dozen second-hand but fully functional ultrasound machines from Switzerland to Laos and put them into service in various hospitals. We also fund the purchase of new equipment in South-East Asia wherever possible.
Maintaining the mostly quite dated ultrasonic devices is a constant challenge. We are therefore regularly accompanied by technicians on our assignments.
The two-day perinatal workshop we initiated at the Mother and Newborn Hospital was an important step towards closer cooperation between gynecology/obstetrics and neonatology.
Strengthening perinatal medicine
Another focus is on improving cooperation between obstetricians and neonatologists (perinatal medicine). This cooperation is far less common in Laos than in Switzerland. However, in the event of complications during pregnancy, it is crucial for the survival and development of the newborn. In this context, the joint workshop with our neonatology group in March 2025 was an important milestone.
Early detection of cervical cancer
The early detection of cervical cancer is also very important to us. The Swiss Laos Hospital Project has financed the training of two laboratory technicians who now carry out permanent screening at the Mother and Newborn Hospital, where we achieve a high quality of smears and findings.
This is a decisive step for the health of mothers: cervical cancer is a very common type of cancer, but can be treated well if detected early by removing the uterus.
Early detection of cervical cancer is at a high level thanks to well-established screening.
Teaching and training are also a priority for our Gynaecology and Obstetrics Working Group.
Our working group
Our team currently consists of eight gynecologists and four midwives who work at the Mother and Newborn Hospital (MNH) in the capital Vientiane and in various provincial hospitals. The MNH is the most important clinic for gynecology, obstetrics and neonatology in Laos and serves as a training hospital. The provincial hospitals are also indispensable for the training of medical staff. In addition, the provincial hospitals are usually the first port of call for emergencies and seriously ill patients from even more remote regions of the country. Our work therefore has an impact far beyond the country's larger cities.