Lao PDR leverages existing DHIS2 health information system infrastructure and capacity and new tools for climate data integration and predictive modeling to support a multi-threat approach to highly seasonal public health challenges.
Lao PDR was one of the 10 countries involved in the first phase of the DHIS2 Climate & Health project from 2024-2026. This work built on earlier national pilots for early warning of climate-sensitive diseases led by the WHO country office and the established use of DHIS2 as a locally owned, national-scale system for health information management and disease surveillance. Laos continues to develop DHIS2 climate and health systems under the leadership of the Ministry of Health with support from funding and implementation partners, including HISP Vietnam-Mekong’s Laos office.
Updated: July 2026
The Government of Lao PDR demonstrates a multi-threat approach to leveraging DHIS2 Climate & Health tools, focusing on these highly seasonal public health challenges:
DHIS2 Climate & Health work in Laos builds off existing DHIS2 infrastructure and capacity, while incorporating innovative DHIS2 tools for climate data integration and predictive modeling.
Laos has used DHIS2 since 2013 as a country-owned, national scale health management information system (HMIS) covering all health programs. Disease surveillance has been integrated into the DHIS2 system since 2019. Case-based and aggregated data are available for 18 notifiable diseases for the last 15+ years and include priority sensitive diseases as outlined in the country’s H-NAP. The Laos Ministry of Health demonstrates strong governance over their DHIS2 system, with robust local capacity for system use. Advanced technical support, such as server administration, custom app development, and integration, is provided by the HISP network, specifically the Laos office of HISP Vietnam-Mekong.
Climate-informed dengue forecasts have been integrated into the Laos Public Health Emergency Operations Center (PHEOC) dashboard in DHIS2, where they are reviewed on a weekly basis. Outbreak and epidemic thresholds have been configured that trigger automatic alerts to drive action.
Validation of relevant climate and weather data sources has been conducted with the national meteorological agency. Routine reporting from all automated weather stations is submitted to WMO according to WMO standards, and is imported by the WHO country office into DHIS2 from the Laos Climate Services for Agriculture (LACSA). Reanalysis data via ERA-5 was compared to local (non re-analyzed) data and was found to be of comparable and sometimes higher quality/utility and is considered to be an acceptable data source for climate-informed decision making. ERA-5 data is made available in the national DHIS2 system through the DHIS2 Climate App.
The Chap Modeling Platform and DHIS2 Modeling App have been installed in the national DHIS2 system to support climate and health use cases. The Laos Ministry of Health has been a key collaborator with HISP UiO for testing Chap functionality and model performance.
Laos PDR has a well-developed policy and governance environment for climate and health.
The Health National Adaptation Plan (H-NAP) of Lao PDR for 2025-2030 provides a comprehensive framework to build a climate-resilient health system, reducing vulnerability to climate impacts while increasing adaptation capacity in the health sector. It references the need for integration of climate data into DHIS2 to support analysis of a range of climate-related health impacts.
Memoranda of Understanding have been signed between Ministries of Health and Environment to facilitate climate-health data sharing and intergovernmental collaboration. Committees and technical working groups have been established to support the implementation of the country grant from the Green Climate Fund. The MoH has established structures such as the Public Health Emergency Operations Centre (PHEOC), an incident management system and weekly inter-sectoral emergency planning & readiness meetings at senior levels. SOPs have been drafted for responding to a number of notifiable infectious and epidemic-prone diseases and drafted for emerging climate-resilient health sector preparedness such as flash flood protocols. These SOPs and structures are being adapted for climate-related health threats.
Lao PDR has a strong partnership environment coordinated by the MOH and including technical support for climate health and HIS strengthening from the WHO country office, collaboration with implementing partners like CHAI and PSI to strengthen data use, and research partnerships such as with Institut Pasteur and the Wellcome-Oxford research unit based at Mahosot hospital. HISP Vietnam-Mekong, through its local Laos office, provides advanced technical support for DHIS2 systems in Lao PDR. Partnerships also reach beyond the health sector: the Mekong River Commission (MRC) provides the flood forecast data used for health sector early warning, and the UNICEF Lao PDR country office has funded the school-based air quality sensor network whose data is now integrated into DHIS2.
In addition to catalytic funding for climate and health systems from Wellcome through the HISP-led DHIS2 Climate & Health project, in 2025 Laos signed an MOU with Green Climate Fund prime recipient Save the Children Australia for implementing a health systems strengthening investment for climate resilience. Strong foundational components such as integrated health data systems, access to digitized climate data, and technical partnerships steered by government priorities with WHO are expected to accelerate progress in the country now that domestic resources have become available to operationalize key parts of the H-NAP in the coming years.
Learn more about DHIS2 Climate & Health work in Laos:
During a session at the 2026 DHIS2 Annual Conference, the WHO Laos country office presented on the work in Laos on predictive modeling and early warning of dengue outbreaks.
The Ministry of Health of Lao PDR, Save the Children International Laos, and the World Health Organization have launched the nation’s first climate and health initiative, with financial support from the Green Climate Fund and DHIS2 technical support from HISP Vietnam.
HISP Vietnam presented a poster in June 2025 summarizing the country’s progress with DHIS2 for Climate & Health.
Explore these additional resources for more information:
Are you working on climate and health in Laos? We would love to hear from you. Contact the global DHIS2 Climate & Health project team at climate@dhis2.org, or connect with HISP Vietnam at: contact@hispvietnam.org