Halting health hazards! Primary health care in Laos Case Study Click on either of these two links for further information about this case study: Teacher's Notes   Student Activities Responding to the Challenge Since 1991, Save the Children Fund Australia (SCFA), with funds from AusAID, have done much with the people of Laos to reverse this situation in one of the country's most mountainous provinces - Sayaboury. Initiating and developing a Primary Health Care Project, they have made a significant impact not only in saving lives but in successfully reversing the poor levels of health of the population. Crucial aspects of the project include educating and training local people to run and support their own health services as well as assisting health services at all levels with equipment and management strategies. Training provincial mobile clinic teams New Access to Health Services The Primary Health Care Project is working at many different levels to improve the access of the Lao population to quality health services. Working with Villages At the village level, 457 Village Health Volunteers (VHVs) and 460 Traditional Birth Attendants (TBA)in 364 villages have received training to provide front line health care. These volunteers receive free health care in return for services and are supported and supervised by dispensary staff. Training Village Health Volunteers (VHVs) in basic data collection and analysis These VHVs have been equipped with First Aid Kits (containing Chloroquine, Oral Rehydration Therapy (ORT) salts, paracetemol and wound dressings) and TBAs have received Safe Delivery Kits (containing such easily replaceable items as razor blades for cutting the umbilical cord and short lengths of cotton for tying the cord). Outreach activities benefit babies in remote villages Working with Dispensaries 17 new dispensaries have been completed and 20 dispensaries have been renovated. These dispensaries function like GP surgeries offering routine immunisation, family planning (birth spacing services), ante-natal care & intravenous therapy. Each dispensary serves a number of villages (some cover 4 villages, others 23 villages). Dispensary equipment such as solar refrigerators, lighting systems and microscopes has been supplied. Mobile Outreach Clinics are developed and maintenanced by dispensary staff who visit villages every 3 months. Services offered include immunisation, family planning, ante-natal care and health education particularly in malarial and diarrhoea prevention. Training has been provided to Dispensary staff. Revolving Drug Funds have been established and maintained to service village cluster dispensaries. Drugs such as iron and folic acid tablets, chloroquine & other malarial drugs, rabies vaccines and contraceptives are made available, affordable and subsidised for poor people. The project has supplied the first essential funds for the drug fund. When villagers purchase their medicines, they pay a small % above cost price. This keeps the fund going & enables very poor families to access medicines free-of-charge. Working at District Level Phiang District Hospital has been built. It has a staff of 30 and operating facilities which allow for appendectomies, hernia repairs, caesarean section births and tubal ligations. Outpatient clinics and maternal and child health services are also provided. Phiang District Hospital MCH/EPI section District staff have received training. Working at the Provincial Level Provincial (state) Health services management team and staff have received training in a diverse range of health areas including Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) and HIV/AIDS. Equipment such as X-Ray machinery, a generator and surgical instruments has been provided. A blood bank with blood borne virus testing has been developed. A training center, a health information center with a computer and a maternal and child health clinic have been established at Sayaboury Provincial Hospital. First Aid and Further Medical Assistance The people of Sayaboury Province now have a much higher level of access to first aid and further medical assistance. In the 6 districts in which the Primary Health Care Project operates 90% of villages now have a VHV to provide first aid and promote health activities and a TBA to provide a safe, clean delivery at childbirth. Outpatient attendance at dispensaries and hospitals has increased by 75% in 3 years. Family Planning and Birth Assistance More than 80% of child birth deliveries are now assisted by TBAs and the number of women seeking family planning advice and birth spacing services has increased by 800%. The availability of the ante-natal clinic has increased by 27%. Immunisation More than 60% of children aged 1 year and under in the Province have now been fully immunised. Almost 70% of women of child-bearing age have been immunised against tetanus. Baby receiving immunisation   Top © Commonwealth of Australia