Social development
Public health
Maternal, child health outpacing neighbours
Cambodia is among 10 countries that achieved accelerated progress in maternal and child health – ahead of comparable countries – by meeting goals to reduce mortality among those population groups, according to a recent cross-country analysis by the WHO. ...
Yesenia Amaro
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/maternal-child-health-outpacing-neighbours
Illegal oil leads to arrests
Two farmers were arrested and charged yesterday after police found more than 100 liters of safrole oil in their Sala Kumrou village residence in Pursat City’s Phteash Prey commune, according to police chief Lieutenant Colonel Chhorn Rith. ...
Buth Reaksmey Kongkea
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/24716/illegal-oil-leads-to-arrests/
Pesticides blamed for sickening 31 in Battambang
Water contaminated by pesticides has been blamed for poisoning 31 people in Battambang’s Samlot district. ...
Kong Meta and Igor Kossov
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/pesticides-blamed-sickening-31-battambang
Two at Ratanakkiri hospital axed for fund mismanagement
Two Ratanakkiri Referral Hospital officials have been ousted from their posts following an audit that found that more than $13,000 from the hospital’s travel allowance account was mismanaged, causing the hospital to run out of money to pay staff. ...
Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/two-ratanakkiri-hospital-axed-fund-mismanagement
As fast food takes hold, health fears grow
As the temperature in Phnom Penh crested 39 degrees celcius on Tuesday, a young British couple stepped into the air-conditioned embrace of Burger King. ...
Ben Paviour
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/as-fast-food-takes-hold-health-fears-grow-112289/
Cambodia waiting for WHO dengue vaccine approval
Although the number of dengue fever cases in Cambodia nearly tripled during the first 17 weeks of 2016 compared to the same period last year, a health official said a vaccine for the mosquito-borne virus still needs to be vetted by the WHO before local ...
Yesenia Amaro
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/cambodia-waiting-who-dengue-vaccine-approval
Non-communicable diseases rising threat
Health Ministry officials said that 43 percent of deaths in the Kingdom in 2014 were caused by non-communicable diseases, a figure which is expected to rise. ...
Mom Kunthear
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/24623/non-communicable-diseases-rising-threat/
Agriculture minister to ban low-grade imported meat
The Minister of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries has announced a ban on all imported low-grade meat from neighboring countries as part of a national reform of the Kingdom’s meat industry. ...
Ven Rathavong
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/24621/agriculture-minister-to-ban-low-grade-imported-meat/
New baby makes waves on way to hospital
A baby was born at sea on Monday afternoon in Koh Kong province after a mother went in labor on a boat on her way to hospital. ...
Srey Kumneth
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/24536/new-baby-makes-waves-on-way-to-hospital/
Disease-carrying bats to be tracked
Scientists are attaching tracking devices to a colony of flying foxes near Phnom Penh in a bid to prevent a possible outbreak of a deadly virus. ...
Brent Crane
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/disease-carrying-bats-be-tracked
Minister wants malaria eliminated by 2025
In recognition of this year’s World Malaria Day on Monday this week, the Health Minister reconfirmed Cambodia’s commitment to eliminate the disease by 2025 during a speech in Pailin on Monday. ...
Pav Suy
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/24322/minister-wants-malaria-eliminated-by-2025/
Cambodian immigrants in US grapple with mental health issues
From the 1970s to the 1990s, as many as 100,000 Cambodian refugees resettled in the United States. But far from finding a sanctuary, many Cambodians in America have grappled with poverty, mental health problems and social isolation. ...
Soksreinith Ten
http://www.voanews.com/content/cambodia-immigrants-us-grapple-mental-health-issues/3304404.html
Drug resistance triggers war to wipe out malaria in the Mekong region
No one knows exactly why resistance to malaria drugs always emerges first in this remote western province of Cambodia, nestled in the Cardamom Mountains. “The reasons are as much social as biological,” says malariologist Tom Peto, who is here in this dusty, unremarkable-looking town battling ...
Leslie Roberts
http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/04/drug-resistance-triggers-war-wipe-out-malaria-mekong-region
Shift in focus for donors may spell trouble: study
Dwindling donor funding for combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis could have a critical impact on low-income countries like Cambodia, a new study has found, with some health workers in the Kingdom saying that the squeeze is already being felt. ...
Yesenia Amaro
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/shift-focus-donors-may-spell-trouble-study
Social media users in a flap as hundreds of bats die
Hundreds of dead bats were found inside Siem Reap’s Phnom Bouk temple in Banteay Srey district after district police and environmental officers were notified by local residents on Tuesday. ...
Pav Suy
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/24097/social-media-users-in-a-flap-as-hundreds-of-bats-die/
Transgender Cambodians at higher risk for HIV infection
The rate of HIV infection among Cambodia’s transgender women is nearly six times higher than the national average, according to the results of a 2012 survey published in the online journal PLOS ONE this month. ...
Ben Paviour
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/transgender-cambodians-at-higher-risk-for-hiv-infection-111517/
Iodine levels dangerously low in moms, children
More than 60 percent of mothers and young children in Cambodia are suffering from dangerously low levels of iodine in what a new study describes as a “serious public health problem.” ...
Ben Paviour
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/iodine-levels-dangerously-low-in-moms-children-111218/
Kantha Bopha nets $6.5M in royal villa sale
The Kantha Bopha Children’s Hospitals have sold a royal residence in Koh Kong province to the government for about $6.5 million after it was donated to them in October by the king and queen mother. ...
Khy Sovuthy and Peter Ford
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/kantha-bopha-nets-millions-111015/
Doctors to be on standby during new year
The Ministry of Health has ordered provincial health department directors to organize officials and doctors to work during the four days of Khmer New Year so hospitals and health centers are able to respond to traffic accidents and other issues. ...
Ven Rathavong
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/23703/doctors-to-be-on-standby-during-new-year/
Seafood sales tanking as algal bloom raises health concerns
Demand for seafood throughout the Kingdom has slowed as a result of warnings issued by Prime Minister Hun Sen and the Ministry of Environment to avoid coastal seafood consumption this past weekend, due to a massive algal bloom off the coast of Kep province. ...
Cheng Sokhorng
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/seafood-sales-tanking-algal-bloom-raises-health-concerns
Oodles of bad noodles poison three in Siem Reap
Three cousins between the ages of one and eight years old were hospitalized on Sunday after eating expired packaged noodles in Siem Reap’s Chi Kreng district, according to police. ...
Srey Kumneth
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/23580/oodles-of-bad-noodles-poison-three-in-siem-reap/
Anemia in Kingdom not always about iron: study
Nearly half of Cambodian women of reproductive age suffer from at least mild anemia, however iron and other nutrient deficiencies may not be to blame, a study published on Friday suggests. ...
Alessandro Marazzi Sassoon
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/anemia-kingdom-not-always-about-iron-study
Beat Richner appointed advisor to ministry of health
In a ceremony on Tuesday, the Ministry of Health appointed a new advisor – the Swiss Dr. Beat Richner, founder of the Kantha Bopha Hospital and Foundation. His hospitals have treated more than 15 million children since the first one opened in 1991 and Minister ...
Jonathan Cox
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/23412/beat-richner-appointed-advisor-to-ministry-of-health/
Ministry warns of alcohol, food poisoning ahead of new year
The Ministry of Health has advised the Kingdom’s citizen’s to be wary of food and alcohol poisoning during the Khmer New Year celebrations, according to a joint press release between the Ministry of Health and World Health Organization (WHO) issued last week. ...
Mom Kunthear
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/23244/ministry-warns-of-alcohol--food-poisoning-ahead-of-new-year/