CHIAs is a community lead advocacy and community system strengthening for health, social justice, and rights for key vulnerable population and people living with diseases in Lao PDR. CHIAs established in 1999 as community base peer support group and later legally registered in 2012 under the degree of association 238/Govt).

Our vision is inspiring inclusive communities, where all key vulnerable populations and people living and affected by diseases take a leadership to improve advocacy and community systems in order to improve and secure health, rights and social justice.

Main focus:

• Support national and global goals to end the three epidemics by 2030, ensuring the appropriate involvement of communities and civil society, and respect for the needs and rights of key, vulnerable and marginalised communities;
• Ensure that key, vulnerable and marginalised communities have access to social inclusion and the mental healthcare services that they need;
• Strengthen financial commitment by domestic and donors towards health, climate change rights-based, gender-transformative and people-centred Universal Health Coverage;
• Promote and ensure that empowerment, rights and gender inclusion approaches are integrated in all new and revised programmes, policies, and frameworks on health and development that affect the key, vulnerable and marginalised groups

CHIAs is currently a lead organization for TB grant the AP-5PC-2019-02 project funded by L’Initiativ and Health project under sub-recipient of Humanity and Inclusion (HI-Laos) and Sub-Recipient (SR) under the Ministry of Health in GF-funded HANSA, HIV, TB and Malaria projects. We manage more than 150 community base supporter and outreach workers for HIV and TB component including other 400 village malaria workers in Saravan Province under the current Global Fund Malaria Project. CHIAs currently has a SOGIES implementation and specific gender equality strategy on gender-based-violence prevention strategy. Additional strategies are being considered, as the organization adopts a wider mandate and a wider range of projects.

The Community Health and Inclusion Association (CHIAs) was established under the Association decree 238/PM, 2017 and Reg. No. 94/MoHA in 2012 under the name ‘Lao Positive Health Association: LaoPHA’. In 2020, the organization rebranded itself to (CHIAs) on 17 March, 2020 (Reg.No. 191/MoHA) to reflect our current mandates that have become more diversified. These are to strengthen community systems to promote and advocate for health, rights and gender equality among key vulnerable populations and people living and affected by diseases, through partnering with local key stakeholders and development partners.