New Success Stories for Cambodia

UNAIDS

It is clear that Cambodia is undergoing a major change, with HIV prevalence continuing to drop in several populations. Dr Tia Phalla introduced a graphic age pyramid demonstrating the effects of conflict and HIV on young men and women. He showed how the National AIDS Authority is moving beyond the health care system to look at changes in society and the epidemic that may herald a worsening in the epidemic. Dr Tharith of the military described an active program for six years that addresses the risks of the half of the men in the military who bought sex in the last year. It was encouraging to hear that military health workers have been trained in syndromic management of sexually transmitted infection symptoms in men - syndromic management is both effective and cheap when used for men.

Dr Seng Sutwantha described an eight-point health sector response at national level that is being decentralised. Dr Hor Bun Leng presented a description of the response in the port city of Sihanoukville. He described control of the sex industry in order to promote condom use and a very active multi-sectoral response. Panha of the linking Cambodian NGO Khana told of the organisation's work in building capacity and providing both technical and financial support to local NGOs. When asked for the three most important determinants of the success of their national program in turning around the epidemic, panel members pointed to the quality of their data in tracking the course of the epidemic, political support, and the rapid development of a multi-sectoral response to create an enabling environment. But this is only part of the story. Young, highly educated and adaptable technical officers were carefully chosen by the Ministry of Health to lead the response that began in this sector. When the health sector response expanded a few years later, some of the most competent health professionals in the country were added. Also donor support in Cambodia was very timely so that the vigorous national response was well resourced almost from the beginning. A large World Bank loan was provided and related technical assistance came with it.