The Ministry of Health is ordering the shutdown of all health clinics operating without permission by the end of the year.
Deputy Director General of the ministry’s Curative Medicine Department, Associate Professor Dr Chanphomma Vongsamphanh, told Vientiane Times last week that several foreign operators are currently running clinics without official approval from the Ministry of Health.
At present there are some 700 clinics operating in Laos, but only 254 of these were given ministerial approval as of 2005.
The Ministry of Health is currently revising the regulations which govern the opening of clinics in Laos, which are expected to be effective by the end of this year.
“Therefore, clinics running without proper ministry approval will be shut down,” said Dr Chanphomma.
However, the Ministry of Health intends to continue to encourage foreign investors to build new hospitals that would contribute to moving Laos off the list of least developed countries by 2020.
Dr Chanphomma confirmed that the operation of clinics is reserved exclusively for Lao nationals, and foreign investors are instead advised to build hospitals.
“We reserve the right to run clinics for Lao nationals as we want to boost incomes for Lao doctors,” he explained.
As well as being a Lao national, clinic operators should also have at least five years experience treating patients in hospitals.
In addition, those wishing to operate in the capital or other large towns must also have a minimum of a bachelor degree in medicine.
However, medics who graduated with an intermediate level diploma from health institutes are allowed to operate in rural areas, and are also required to have five years’ hospital experience.
The Ministry of Health has a clear policy to allow certain foreign clinics to provide treatment for their own citizens and staff, such as the Australian Embassy Clinic and Phu Bia Mining which has its own clinic on site in Vientiane province.
