Laos

Laos is a Southeast Asian country traversed by the Mekong River and known for mountainous terrain,
French colonial architecture, hill tribe settlements and Buddhist monasteries. Vientiane, the capital, is
the site of the That Luang monument, where a reliquary reportedly houses the Buddha’s breastbone,
plus the Patuxai war memorial and Talat Sao (Morning Market), a complex jammed with food, clothes
and craft stalls.

Table 2

country GNP or domestic POPULATION PER CAPITA GNP OR

product GDP
2020
lao Gross domestic product 7,275,556
in billion U.S. dollars GDP per capita in U.S.
2022 20.63 2021 dollars
2021 19.38 7.30 Million 2022 2,757.81
2020 18.82 2021 2,625.61
2019 18.77 2022 2020 2,586.78
The current population 2019 2,618.18
-2022 of the Lao People's
projected to trend Democratic Republic is
around 20.40 USD 7,449,661 as of
BILLION Saturday, February 26,
Acc. To econometric 2022, based on
models Worldometer
elaboration of the latest
United Nations data.

The gross domestic product (GDP) measures of national income and output for a given country's
economy. The gross domestic product (GDP) is equal to the total expenditures for all final goods and
services produced within the country in a stipulated period of time

gross national product (GNP), total market value of the final goods and services produced by a nation's
economy during a specific period of time (usually a year), computed before allowance is made for the
depreciation or consumption of capital used in the process of production.

Total expenditure for health In 2018, the health expenditure in Laos amounted
 to approximately 2.25 percent of the country's
gross domestic product (GDP). This was a
significant decrease from 2009, in which the
health expenditure in Laos amounted to
approximately four percent of the country's GDP

Per capita expenditure What was Laos's GDP per Capita in 2020? Laos
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per Capita reached
2,643.000 USD in Dec 2020, compared with
2,632.000 USD in Dec 2019

Total number of manpower in health sector 2012- 14 189 health workers

59% were female and 16% were from minority
group

Population per bed ratio Beds per 1000 persons have decreased from 1.8
beds per 1000 in 1996 to 0.8 beds per 1000 in
2010, as supply has not kept pace with population
growth. Most beds are for acute care, with no
psychiatric or long term care institutions. The
elderly and chronic ill are cared for at home.

Table 3

What is total health expenditure?

Total health expenditure is the sum of public and private health expenditure. It covers the provision of
health services (preventive and curative), family planning activities, nutrition activities, and emergency
aid designated for health but does not include provision of water and sanitation.

Table 4

Life expectancy at birth At birth:male-64.2

Female-67.4

2020
Crude death rate death rate for Lao People's Democratic Republic
was 6.3 per 1,000 people. Death rate of Lao
People's Democratic Republic fell gradually from
18.1 per 1,000 people in 1971 to 6.3 per 1,000
people in 2020.

Leading cause of mortality premature death in Laos, lower respiratory

infections, ischemic heart disease, and diarrheal
diseases were the highest ranking causes in 2010
1. Influenza and pneumonia are more
prevalent in the country especially in the
month of June or July due to the
subtropical climate that covers most of
the southern and south–eastern Asia.
Lack of access to vaccines and vaccination centers
is a major cause of influenza and pneumonia
 related mortality in Laos.

2.Coronary Heart Disease

CHD is high among the urban Laotians due to the
continued adoption of risky lifestyle like poor diet.
Obesity among the population of Laos is also
considered a risk factor for CHD. The high
mortality is also attributed to the lack of proper
healthcare in the country.
3.Stroke
The prevalence and incidence of stroke are rarely
recorded in the country due to a lack of
awareness of the signs and symptoms of the
disease. Cigarette smoking is considered a major
risk factor for stroke in Laos with smokers having
twice the risk of stroke. The high number of
smokers among the youths and adults especially
of the male gender has led to a rise in the
incidence of stroke in the country.
4.Dengue
5.Diarrheal disease
6.Liver cancer
7.Birth trauma
8.Low birth weight
9.Road traffic accident
10.Other injuries

Leading cause of morbidity Four common diseases in Laos :

1. Dengue Fever: Dengue fever is a mosquito-
transmitted virus.
- The government has run many campaigns
to encourage people to remove standing
water from their land. This eliminates the
breeding areas of mosquitoes that spread
the disease.
2. respiratory infections - Lower respiratory
infections are also very common , most
prevalent in June and July because of the
rainy season and subtropical climate.
3. ischemic heart disease
4. diarrheal diseases - A variety of diarrheal
diseases is also very common
- Risk factors for these diseases in Laos are
air pollution in the house, being
underweight as a child and suboptimal
breastfeeding. In addition, mothers
should breastfeed their children up to
two years to improve their children’s
nutrition.

The shortage and maldistribution of the health workforce in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic,
together with the inadequate skills of the health staff, pose serious challenges to achieving the health-
related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). In response to these challenges, Health Strategy to the
Year 2020 gives priority to improving employment capacity, increasing deployment of skilled health
workers to rural and remote areas, and enhancing the capacity of health professionals through
improved education and training in order to achieve the MDGs by 2015.

Ref http://www.healthdata.org