On 12 December 2024, an anniversary was celebrated at the Mother and Newborn Hospital. Twenty-five years ago, Urs Lauper, Senior Physician for Obstetrics at the University Hospital of Zurich, visited Vientiane for the first time to take part as a speaker in a workshop on sexually transmitted diseases. He travelled around Laos and was deeply impressed by the medical conditions in the country. He was particularly concerned by the high rates of child and maternal mortality. <\/p>\n\n
Urs Lauper met Professor Bouavanh, the director of what was then the Mother and Child Hospital. He became a key figure in the long-standing, fruitful collaboration between the Swiss Laos Hospital Project and the Laotian hospitals. Together, Prof. Bouavanh and Urs Lauper analysed the most pressing problems in healthcare for mothers and their children, and tackled these issues step by step. In particular, they were committed to the training and further education of midwives, nurses and doctors. <\/p>\n\n
Urs Lauper spent several months in Laos every year. He succeeded in recruiting colleagues from Switzerland for his project. In addition to focusing on teaching, they procured medication, medical supplies and equipment. For example, decommissioned but still fully functional ultrasound machines were imported from Switzerland to Laos, and staff were trained in their use. Marion M\u00f6nkhoff established a neonatology unit to complement the obstetrics department. <\/p>\n\n
In 2010, a construction project for the new Mother and Newborn Hospital came to a standstill at the shell stage due to a lack of funding and became a deserted building site. Urs Lauper succeeded in raising a five-figure sum through a major fundraising campaign. This made it possible to complete the building, and the new hospital opened its doors in 2015. The new Mother and Newborn Hospital became a teaching hospital and a flagship for obstetrics and neonatology throughout Laos. <\/p>\n\n
From 2008 onwards, further specialist areas were gradually added to the original fields of obstetrics and paediatrics, and the number of partner hospitals also increased. A group of general practitioners worked at the Muang Kham District Hospital; under the leadership of Jacques Gubler, Winterthur Cantonal Hospital entered into a partnership with Xieng Kouang Provincial Hospital; Alphons Schnyder organised courses in hospital management in collaboration with the Ministry of Health; and a group of psychiatrists committed themselves to establishing their speciality in Laos. <\/p>\n\n
Over the course of 25 years, what began as a single person\u2019s initiative has grown into an organisation with 140 members and 40 volunteer assignments per year, with an annual budget of CHF 300,000 funded by 300 donors.<\/p>\n\n
The following film, shot by our Laotian partners, illustrates this development:<\/p>\n\n