MGR Online — The Lao Ministry of Public Health has ordered BLL Hospital in Vientiane to temporarily halt new patient admissions, opening the way for officials to conduct an inspection, after online communities were stirred by reports that the hospital is a site for the illegal buying, selling, and transplanting of organs for Chinese patients.
On 21 July 2026, the Department of Medical and Rehabilitation Services, Ministry of Public Health of the Lao PDR, issued official notification letter No. 1462/ກປຟ to the Director of BLL Hospital, concerning the temporary suspension of medical services.
The notification cited the Law on Medical Treatment (revised edition) dated 20 November 2023, the Decree on the Establishment and Operations of the Ministry of Public Health dated 16 December 2023, the Decree on Private Hospitals dated 28 April 2014, as well as the public interest generated by news currently circulating on online media, and the resolution reached at a Ministry of Public Health meeting on 21 July 2026.
The body of the notification stated that the Ministry of Public Health considers medical treatment to be patient-centred, delivered with quality and safety, and guaranteed to be universally accessible to the public, and that it therefore promotes the provision of medical services by both the public and private sectors.
BLL Hospital is a legally established hospital providing general medical services and has, in recent times, participated in and improved its medical service delivery in a satisfactory manner.
Nevertheless, in light of the public interest surrounding news circulating on online media, and out of concern on the part of the administration, the Department of Medical and Rehabilitation Services respectfully notifies the hospital to temporarily suspend medical services for new patients, so as to facilitate an inspection team in following up, monitoring, and collecting data on the hospital's service provision during the period in question. This is being done in the interest of clarity and fairness for all parties, and once the data collection is complete, the hospital will be notified accordingly.
The issuance of this notification ordering BLL Hospital to temporarily suspend services to new patients comes after, over the past month, Lao online communities were stirred by reports from both Lao media and influencers as well as Taiwanese media, alleging that BLL Hospital has been used as a venue for an international organ trafficking network to buy, sell, and transplant illicit organs.
Joseph Akaravong, also known as President Jo, an influencer with 710,000 followers, was the first to raise the issue through his page Joseph Akaravong on 4 June 2026, stating that a hospital in Laos had collaborated with Chinese doctors and Chinese investors in the illegal buying, selling, and transplanting of human organs, with most clients coming from China.
Subsequently, on 20 July 2026, Joseph shared information from Taiwan's The Reporter page, presenting it in a Lao-language translation that explicitly named the hospital as BLL Hospital, located in Ban Amon, Xaysetha District, Vientiane Capital — a private hospital popular among Lao people for maternity services.
The Reporter's story reported that several people in Taiwan had died after coming to Laos for organ transplants. A reporter from The Reporter in Taiwan then went undercover as a patient seeking an organ transplant, making contact with a Chinese broker who arranged for them to travel to BLL Hospital in Vientiane Capital for the transplant, with equipment described as ready, at a cost of 150,000 US dollars. However, when The Reporter's journalist pressed the broker on the source of the organs to be transplanted, the broker was unable to provide a clear answer or details.
According to The Reporter's story, BLL Hospital has not been licensed by the Lao Ministry of Public Health to perform organ transplants.
After The Reporter's story was published, private online news pages that are not official Lao news agencies — such as the ຂ່າວສດ (News Fresh) page and the Manushya Lao page — widely amplified the story, generating a wave of alarm among readers in online communities, until the Lao Ministry of Public Health issued the notification ordering the temporary suspension of BLL Hospital's services as described above.
