The Adolescent Health Research Agenda - Lao PDR

The Adolescent Health Research Agenda addresses urgent research priorities that have relevance to public health, with a focus on reproductive health related issues. It aims to contribute towards quality data in Lao PDR to visualise the progress of adolescents in both the National and Global Development Goals.

The purpose of the Research Agenda is to promote research areas that can:

• Fill the knowledge gaps with regard to adolescent health
• Reduce scientific uncertainties of what works in adolescent programming, including young adolescents (10-14 year old)
• Challenge research to go beyond the numbers and explore the root causes of issues in relation to adolescent health to inform policy and practice
• Respond to knowledge gaps and limited public awareness through the development of communication strategies for effective dissemination of evidence and to inform policy and practice.

The publication is intended for use by researchers and funding agencies. Researchers are encouraged to use it as a guide to design studies according to identified knowledge gaps, whereas research funders and other key partners are encouraged to use it as a guiding document to organize resources to align with the identified issues.

The Adolescent Health Research Agenda has been created as a collaborative effort of the Lao Tropical and Public Health Institute (LaoTPHI), MCNV and UNFPA, in association with the LEARN Programme, a five-year EU-funded initiative to strengthen the capacity of public health institutes in Laos.