Children’s Hospital rolls out child safety project

The Children’s Hospital in Vientiane is embarking on a new project with a focus on child safety as part of ongoing efforts to offer better quality health services for children.
A ceremony to kickstart the initiative last week was attended by Hospital Director Dr Sommanikhone Phangmanixay, Korean volunteers, Deputy Director of the Children’s Hospital Dr Somxay Billamay, and senior hospital staff.
The  child safety project aims to provide practical advice for parents and young children in their homes and is seen as a good opportunity to strengthen families.
The total cost of the five-year project is about US$40,000, which will be spent on project activities at the hospital, financed by the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) from December 2019 to May 2020.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Dr Sommanikhone described the success to date of the hospital’s public awareness-raising campaign on the safety and healthcare of children. She believed the new scheme would respond to the ongoing lack of child protection issues, improve healthcare, and generally promote good health and wellbeing among Lao children.
The aim of the project is to identify children in high-stress environments or with signs of distress at the earliest possible time, and intervene to reduce emotional and behavioural problems along with developmental and learning problems.
Under the project, the hospital gives healthcare information to parents who visit the hospital and they receive advice about treatment for their children after going home. The scheme will also more effectively assess patients through better quality medical care, Dr Sommanikhone added.
A resident of Phonsawang village in Chanthabouly district, who wished to remain anonymous, said she was very happy with the information provided by the hospital, which was not available previously. 
“I think the information about child safety is important for all mothers because most of them still do not understand these issues,” she said.
For a number of years, KOICA has played an important role in the development of various sectors in Laos, including healthcare. The agency has strengthened paediatric and other fields by integrating maternal, neonatal and child healthcare with a project on paediatric education.
The project provides training in emergency treatment and skills that can be learnt to save the lives of mothers and children in local communities.
KOICA has also distributed health manuals that have been translated from Korean and English into Lao, to further strengthen the capacity of Lao paediatricians.

By Phetphoxay Sengpaseuth
(Latest Update January 6, 2020)