Laos

This landlocked south-east Asian country, which borders Thailand, Vietnam, China, Cambodia and Myanmar (Burma), was traditionally dominated by Thailand during the late medieval and early modern period. It then became a French protectorate from its incorporation into French Indochina in 1893, until it achieved independence as the Kingdom of Laos on July 19, 1949. In 1975 the communist Pathet Lao movement came to power and the country was renamed the Lao People's Democratic Republic. Laos has a population of 5,924,000 (2006) with 24 doctors and 108 nurses per 100,000 people.

Prior to the establishment of French colonial rule, there was little formal health care with most people living [Page 995]in isolated villages and relying on herbal remedies for the treatment of most ailments. During the French period, the colonial service opened small hospitals in Vientiane, the administrative capital, and Luang Prabang, the royal capital. Located in the two major cities in the country, the two hospitals generally only catered to European patients and also members of the small Lao elite. At independence, there was not a single Laotian doctor; all the doctors in the country being either French or from Vietnam, trained at the medical school in Hanoi which specialized in tropical diseases.

After independence, a few medical missionaries worked in Laos, with Operation Brotherhood, operating from the Philippine Jaycee movement, and Dr. Tom Dooley ran medical missions in Laos, close to the Chinese border. With malaria posing a major health problem in the country, from 1956 until 1960, D.D.T. was sprayed over much of the country in an attempt to eradicate the mosquitoes. It was partially successful but had to stop because of the situation in the country which was heading for civil war.

The war led to a rise in medical problems throughout the country, with poor nutrition accounting for many problems. The lack of access to clean water, and also environmental hazards such as fungal infections, have all added to the medical problems in the country which also come from malaria, dengue fever, amoebic dysentery, giardiasis and schistosomiasis (bilharzia). Because of the extensive growing of poppy in Laos, there have been problems associated with drug addiction, which has led to a rise in HIV/AIDS cases, which have also increased from more widespread prostitution.

The Ministry of Public Health in Laos now maintains hospitals in 15 of the 16 provinces in the country, and also runs clinics in 110 districts and many sub-districts. The Faculty of Medical Sciences at the National University of Laos, Vientiane, helps train doctors, and there is also an Institute of Traditional Medicine, dealing with traditional cures. There have also been some studies relating to Laotian communities overseas, some of which have helped with the treatment of people in Laos.