Health care policy and administration

The number of reported dengue fever cases has risen to 2,688 dengue in the first six months of this year, up 116 percent from the 1,245 cases over the same period last year, a statement from the Health Ministry said. ...

About one in 25 Cambodians have speech and swallowing disorders, with tens of thousands dying each year due to related complications, according to experts. ...

A draft of Cambodia’s first alcohol law—which if passed would introduce a drinking age of 21 and ban the sale of alcohol between 12 a.m. and 6 a.m.—will be sent to the Council of Ministers by the end of the week, Health Minister Mam Bunheng ...

Police are searching for a 26-year-old unlicensed dentist in Tbong Khmum province who is believed to have used a rope to strangle a patient to death at his clinic in order to steal her jewelry and motorbike, along with about $3,000 in cash, an official ...

Officials from the Ministry of Health’s national eye health program yesterday released a report announcing that trachoma, an eye infection that can lead to blindness, is no longer a public health problem in Cambodia. ...

The Ministry of Health has completed a draft law on alcohol regulation, which will set a minimum drinking age, increase taxes on alcohol and place other controls on the sale, consumption and advertising of alcohol. ...

The recent death from rabies of a French resident of Kampot has caused coastal vets and doctors to call for increased vigilance and improved preventative measures in Cambodia, which is still classed as a “red” zone for the lethal virus. ...

The Phnom Penh Municipal Health Department has closed more than 200 illegal dental clinics in the capital in the first six months of the year, and has filed complaints against their owners to the Phnom Penh Municipal Court, health officials said yesterday. ...

In an effort to demonstrate government measures to prevent the potentially fatal Middle East respiratory syndrome from entering Cambodia—days after the disease was found in Thailand—the health minister showcased machines that detect people’s body temperature at Phnom Penh International Airport on Tuesday. ...

Following the first case of the potentially deadly Middle East respiratory syndrome being confirmed in Thailand on Thursday, government officials in Cambodia said entry points into the country were already equipped to prevent the disease from spreading here. ...

A Cambodian man who sold his license to operate a medical clinic in Stung Treng City faces up to 10 years in prison after a woman died following an abortion conducted illegally on the premises, a court official said. ...

A Health Ministry official said Thursday that an investigation in the wake of a devastating HIV outbreak in Battambang province’s Roka commune late last year had revealed more than 3,000 unlicensed doctors operating across the country. ...

Cambodian Health Minister Mam Bunheng on Sunday called for more blood donations since the Southeast Asian country saw only 4 out of 1,000 people donate their blood. ...

The National Human Rights Commission of Thailand has accused the country’s Khon Kaen Sugar of “serious human rights violations” at its two Cambodian plantations in a new report that urges the firm to return the land to the hundreds of families forced off their farms—some ...

Three Chinese men and a Cambodian were charged Friday by the Battambang Provincial Court for operating unlicensed medical facilities and supplying spoiled or fake drugs, a court official said. ...

Two more people have tested positive for HIV in Battambang province’s Roka commune this month, bringing the total number infected to 272 since an outbreak of the virus was first detected in December, a health official said Wednesday. ...

A new report suggests counterfeit anti-malarial drugs are far less prevalent in Cambodia than previously thought, but almost a third of the legitimate medicines are of substandard quality. According to the study, published on Monday by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, none of ...

Earlier this year, a mob in Takeo province beat a mentally ill man to death, then dragged his body into the rice paddies and set it on fire. The 27-year-old was suspected of robbery. This week, Takeo Governor Lay Vannak launched a campaign to combat future ...

An 89-year-old woman who was among the more than 240 villagers to test positive for HIV in Battambang province’s Roka commune died Monday, bringing the total number of deaths since the outbreak was first detected in December to eight. ...

An education campaign launched by Cambodia’s National Immunization Program (NIP) in the aftermath of last year’s HIV outbreak in Battambang has been effective in dispelling the concerns of parents hesitant to get their children vaccinated, government health bodies and the World Health Organization have said. ...

Dengue fever cases in the Kingdom have increased by nearly 80 per cent compared with the same period last year, and the Cambodia National Malaria Center (CNM) said yesterday that it expects a continued surge throughout 2015. ...

A deputy commune chief in Battambang province’s Roka commune, where an outbreak of HIV has infected nearly 250 villagers, died Monday. ...

Only one child remained hospitalized Wednesday after a group of about 800 people fell ill from food poisoning caused by tainted sandwiches served at a World Vision event in Siem Reap province on Saturday, a spokesman for the NGO said.​ ...

Health experts have thrown their weight behind a provision in the draft tobacco-control law that will require graphic health warnings to cover half the face of Cambodia’s cigarette packages. According to article 10 of the law – first drafted in 2003 – the images must ...