Public health

On Tuesday, the US government awarded Transcultural Psychosocial Organization Cambodia – the nation’s leading provider in the field of mental healthcare and psychosocial support – with an $894,057 grant that will facilitate mental health therapies and healing methods for the country’s many genocide survivors afflicted ...

Two dollars from the sale of every ticket to the Angkor temple complex will go to the Kantha Bopha hospitals in February 2017, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance yesterday. A letter sent to Dr. Beat Richner, the founder for the Kantha Bopha Children’s ...

The Ministry of Health (MoH) intends to discuss with Dr. Beat Richner the possibility of organizing a test for doctors in private clinics throughout the Kingdom about their professional knowledge, a spokesman confirmed yesterday. ...

The local arm of tobacco giant Japan Tobacco International (JTI), which makes Camel, Winston and Mevius cigarettes, has blasted the Association of the Tobacco Industry of Cambodia (ATIC) for failing to ensure its members adhere to new regulations mandating graphic health warnings on cigarette packages. ...

Days after a law went into effect requiring all cigarette packages sold in Cambodia to be plastered with graphic images of the health effects of smoking—blackened lungs and an infant on a respirator—there was little evidence of the new packaging in the capital. ...

Australia and Cambodia have agreed to enhance cooperation in the health sector, with Australia pledging $36 million for health improvements in the Kingdom. The commitment was made on Monday at the Health Ministry in a meeting between Minister Mam Bun Heng and newly appointed Australian Ambassador ...

Cambodia has the highest rate of untreated cleft lip and palate in infants, out of more than 100 low- and middle-income countries, a new global study has found.   ...

The tobacco industry has urged the government to crack down on cigarette smuggling ahead of new laws mandating graphic health warnings, saying failure to do so gave smuggled products a competitive edge. ...

The number of new HIV infections in Cambodia nearly doubled over the past decade—the greatest increase in Asia—while less than a third of Cambodians living with the virus are receiving medication to slow its development, according to a report released this week. ...

A majority of the more than 2,500 children hospitalized by illnesses in the Kantha Bopha hospital network between Sunday and yesterday were critically poor and could not survive without free treatment, Kantha Bopha hospital founder and head Dr. Beat Richner said. ...

Two measles cases investigated by the government in recent weeks have been confirmed positive, bringing the total number to five this year and causing concern among health officials about a possible outbreak after the World Health Organization declared the country measles-free just last year.   ...

The garment industry is the linchpin of Cambodia’s economy, and the single biggest employer of women. Some 500 factories hire almost 500,000 female workers, many of whom are young and have migrated to the city from the countryside. ...

As the government plans to transfer roughly 60 percent of detainees at the notorious Prey Speu detention center to a “mental illness” center in Kandal province, mental health experts expressed doubts this week over the country’s capacity to provide proper care. ...

More than 100 striking workers at the Vanny Bio-Research company in Pursat town agreed to go back to work yesterday after mediators promised to find an adequate resolution to their demands for a wage hike. The company breeds and cares for 30,000-40,000 monkeys they sell to ...

A prominent pediatrician announced on Sunday that the use of the Bacille Calmette-Huerin (BCG) vaccination for tuberculosis was not only ineffective, but could prolong suffering for children with the disease. Doctor Beat Richner, the founder of the Kantha Bopha Hospitals, took to Facebook on Sunday, ...

The teeth of some 60,000 Cambodian children have been “sealed” to help prevent tooth decay under an oral health project that recently concluded, but many more continue to be in need of such service, given the country’s significantly high tooth-decay rate. ...

Cambodian parents are commonly using medicinal balms and oils such as “Tiger Balm” on their newborn children despite potentially toxic effects, according to a new report.   ...

The expiration dates of food and consumable goods will be more rigorously tested thanks to a push by the Ministry of Commerce to install mobile equipment to do the job, according to local media. ...

Health Ministry officials are warning that this year will see an increased rate of dengue fever across the country, as the cyclical virus has already shown higher than usual rates of infection, with Mondolkiri province seeing an acute spike in cases.   ...

A new treatment designed to stabilize those with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has pro­v­en highly effective and could be used to help the roughly quarter of Cambodians who have the mental illness, according to a new study.   ...

A new study has found that there is a “substantial burden” of pediatric typhoid fever in rural communes in Cambodia. ...

Cambodia’s public health workers are underpaid and poorly trained, with a whopping 98 per cent relying on a second job to supplement their income, according to a recent report. ...

Ministry of Health officials are investigating two suspected measles cases – one in Phnom Penh and another in Svay Rieng province.   ...

The vast majority of people undergoing treatment for HIV and AIDS in Cambodia reported suffering anxiety, according to a new quality of life survey.   ...