Prime Minister Bouasone Bouphavanh of the Lao PDR said recently that Laos plans to reduce the number of people who do not have access to clean water supplies and basic health care in half by the year 2015.
The development and provision of clean water supplies in Laos has increased since 2001. The number of Lao people who have access to clean water had jumped from 55% in 2001 to 63% in 2004 and more than 73% in 2007; even though more than 1.5 million out of the almost 6 million population do not have access to clean water supplies yet.
The development and expansion of health care system in Laos is 25% lagging behind those of clean water service; in 2001 only 39.7% of Lao people had access to basic health care. That number jumped to 44.25% in 2004 and 48.73% in 2007. More than 3 million of Lao people still do not have access to basic health care system.
This makes Laos one of the countries with the highest mother and child mortality rates, as compared to other ASEAN countries. The rates stand at 98 per 1,000 for children under five and 405 per 100,000 for mothers.
Listen to our Laos Today report for more details.