The US State Department's Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement has agreed to renew its commitment to support World Education, an international non-profit organisation working to assist UXO victims in Xekong and Xieng Khuang provinces.
The provinces were some of the most heavily bombed areas in Laos during the Indochina War in the 1960s and 1970s. Although the war ended more than three decades ago, UXO continues to injure and kill innocent people, particularly farmers.
World Education Country Director Mr Mark Gorman and Physi cal Medicine Rehabilitation Centre Director Dr Thongchanh Thepsomphou signed a memorandum of understanding on November 15 in Xekong province to continue a cooperation project to assist UXO accident survivors in the two provinces.
US Ambassador to Laos Ms Karen Stewart and a number of government officials attended the event.
According to a media release from the US Embassy, the main goal of the project is to improve the capacity of the health care system to provide emergency medical care for survivors of UXO accidents.
Through the project, emergency medical care will be improved by initial and follow-up training to support doctors, nurses, lab technicians and village health volunteers. The project will upgrade emergency medical equipment and supplies in hospitals and sub-district health centres and provide emergency supplies and manuals to village health volunteers.
The project will also upgrade hospital systems for revolving drug supplies, record keeping, discharge plans for patients, and follow up support and monitoring for UXO victim patients.
World Education aims to strengthen first aid and emergency response training at hospitals and medical facilities at the provincial, district, sub-district and village levels in Xekong province. It also provides refresher training for emergency response medical staff at province, district and sub-district health centres in Xieng Khuang province as well as improving orthopaedic services for UXO and landmine accident victims.
According to UXO Lao, around 12,000 UXO-related accidents have occurred in the country since 1973. Data gathered by UXO Lao in areas where it operates from 1999 to present show 934 casualties, comprising 655 injuries and 279 deaths.
The data also indicates more than 50 percent of the victim s are children and more than 81 percent are male. Sub-cluster munitions (known locally as bombies) are the most common cause of accidents. Actual UXO accidents nationwide may be more than this as UXO Lao only receives reports of UXO accidents in areas it operates in.
By Times Reporters
(Latest Update November 24, 2011)
(Latest Update November 24, 2011)
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