Health Indicators
Programs
Summary: Phase 1. Exploration phase to build an enabling environment
Lao PDR is currently in a transition phase from iron-folic acid (IFA) supplementation to multiple micronutrient supplementation (MMS) for pregnant women. Encouragingly, strong global and regional evidence demonstrating the benefits of MMS over IFA has created broad alignment among the government and technical partners on moving forward with this shift.
The plan is to conduct a pilot in one or two districts, where pregnant women would receive MMS for a defined period. Outcomes from these districts would then be compared with those from districts continuing with IFA supplementation.
The pilot would function both as an implementation study and as an initial rollout phase for MMS in the country.
Source: Unicef 2025