Summary
Lao PDR, a lower-middle-income, mountainous country with 62% of its 7.63 million population living in rural areas, has been Gavi-eligible since 2002. It has entered its final transition phase in 2017 and will end Gavi support at the end of 2025. Its National Immunization Programme (NIP), established in 1979, currently includes 10 vaccines covering 12 diseases. Despite significant improvements, immunization coverage remains below WHO thresholds, with wide disparities across provinces, economic levels, and ethnic groups.
The Immunization Law ensures the government’s commitment to the immunization programme. The NIP operates under the Ministry of Health’s Department of Hygiene and Prevention, with strategic guidance from a multi-sectoral National Immunization Technical Advisory Group (NITAG) and oversight from an Interagency Coordinating Committee (ICC). The government covered 60% of routine immunization expenditure in 2022. Vaccines are provided free of charge at both fixed, outreach sites, and mobile sites. Over 60% of services rely on outreach due to geographic barriers. There are three levels of cold chain management.
Lao PDR uses the DHIS2 platform for national immunization data reporting but faces challenges in data accuracy and timeliness. AEFI surveillance is conducted through a passive system and the national pharmacovigilance centre was established in 2015.
Content Editor: Tianyi Deng
Page Editor: Ruitong Li
About NIP Country Case
The NIP country case was part of the WHO APO report Comparative analysis of the national immunization programmes in select ASEAN and SAARC countries: progress and challenges. The study was conducted by the VaxLab team in 2023-2024.
More in the report Chapter 2 (PDF Page 31/154): https://iris.who.int/bitstream/handle/10665/380387/9789290620785-eng.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
Content Editor: Tianyi Deng
Page Editor: Ruitong Li