Public health

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. ...

Another HIV-positive resident of Battambang province’s Roka commune passed away this week, marking the latest fatality in a locale where hundreds have been infected with the virus. ...

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. ...

Cambodia has seen 957 dengue fever cases in the first five months of 2015, a 63 percent rise compared with 586 cases over the same period last year, a health official said Thursday. ...

Members of a community in Battambang where an unlicensed doctor allegedly infected more than 200 people with HIV earlier this year have demanded free general healthcare, a provision usually reserved only for the country’s most poor. ...

The outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) in South Korea has sparked international alarm, and about 25,000 people have cancelled trips to the country between June 5 and 7, the Korean Tourism Organisation said.  ...

A blood-testing lab in Siem Riep was closed down yesterday morning after it was discovered to be operating without a licence. ...

Every day, 35 Cambodian children die before their fifth birthday. Their premature deaths are caused mainly by such preventable and treatable diseases as diarrhea or pneumonia. ...

In the wake of 35 documented cases – including two deaths – of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) in South Korea, Cambodian Ministry of Health officials are warning Cambodian migrant workers there about the risk. ...

Iron deficiency affects nearly 3.5 billion people worldwide. It is the most common nutritional deficiency in the world. In Cambodia, after 9 months of using the Lucky Iron Fish every day, researchers saw a 50 percent decrease in the incidence of clinical iron deficiency anemia, ...

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 recently released study on hygiene in Cambodia has found that a lack of understanding of the dangers of handling child faeces is causing serious health problems. ...

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 ...

Some 100,000 prospective patients could lose opportunity for eye care due to Australia scaling back its foreign aid budget. But as Fred Hollows and other Australian NGOs brace themselves for the cuts, the Australian government is forging ahead with a $40 million scheme to relocate ...

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. ...

Government authorities in a southwest Cambodian province are planning a coordinated campaign to round up residents suffering from mental illness and take them to Buddhist temples where they will be cared for by monks, a provincial official said. ...

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 woman was arrested on Wednesday in Banteay Meanchey province for allegedly smuggling 12 methamphetamine pills into the provincial prison by slashing open green beans and tucking the pills inside, local police said Thursday. ...

Cambodia has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in Southeast Asia. The number of women dying during pregnancy or childbirth has dropped in recent years. But it is still far short of the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals. The Cambodian government accepted those goals ...

Cambodia has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the region, and despite UN goals set up for the end of 2015, that number has remained high. There, only 75 percent of women giving birth were attended by trained health workers in 2012, according ...