While on-track for child health andmaternal health MDGs, Lao PDR continues to have some of theworst maternal and child health (MCH) outcomes, bothglobally and in the East Asia and Pacific (EAP) region.Under-five and infant mortality rates are high relative toGDP per capita, and utilization of essential health servicesis low, given significant demand-side barriers includingphysical access, cultural, and financial barriers.Furthermore, about a third of all children under-five remainunderweight and almost half are stunted. Lao PDR is henceoff-track on the nutrition-related MDG. In addition to pooraggregate measures, there are significant economic, urbanrural, geographic, and ethnic group-related inequalities inhealth and nutrition outcomes.This policy note provides asnapshot of human resources for health (HRH) in healthcenters in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR)based on an analysis of a health facility survey (theUFGE-CNP health center survey) that collected informationfrom a nationally-representative sample of 120 public healthcenters (HCs) from 2013 to 2014. This survey was conductedas a baseline for health sector reform plans, to informpolicymaking as Lao PDR scales-up programs to attainhealth-related MDGs, expand basic health services, andattain universal health coverage (UHC). This notecomplements a related health financing note which includeshealth center financing data from the same survey. Keyfindings from that note include low government healthspending, associated with a high reliance on out-of-pocket(OOP) spending and external financing, which translates tounderfunding of HCs (especially non-wage recurrentexpenditure) and dependence on OOP revenue from revolvingdrug funds (RDFs).
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