Cambodian Mental Health Care Deficient

Poverty, homelessness, and
high rates of post traumatic stress mean
psychiatric care is acutely needed
in Cambodia

In 2010, Cambodia had around 35 trained psychiatrists and 45 psychiatric nurses.

With a population of around 15,000,000 that means there is one psychiatrist for every 428,570 people.

Compare that to Australia* which has approximately one psychiatrist per 5,500 people and one mental health nurse per 1,500 people.

And even when comparing psychiatric care with an equally poor country such as India, the lack of support for Cambodia's mentally ill is still woeful- it is estimated that India has one psychiatrist per 250,000 people.

This lack is even more acute as studies show that instances of post-traumatic stress are very high in Cambodia because of the horrors of the Khmer Rogue regime.  

*includes psychiatrists in training

Good News Cambodia (7) Malaria Cases Continue to Fall

Higher usage of mosquito nets is a main reason why Malaria
is becoming less common in the kingdom.

Cases of malaria continue to fall according to official Cambodian figures.

'Cambodia recorded 41,850 malaria cases in 2013, down 40 percent from 69,550 cases a year earlier, a health official said Sunday.

The disease killed 12 people last year, down 74 percent from 46 deaths a year earlier, Char Meng Chuor, director of the National Center for Malaria, said in a press statement.

Based on the figures, it can be concluded that death toll from malaria is no longer a major threat to the Cambodian people, but more efforts are still needed towards the complete elimination of the disease by 2025, he said.'

http://www.philstar.com/world/2014/01/19/1280640/cambodia-malaria-cases-down-40-pct-2013

Good News Cambodia (6) Dengue Fever Cases Fall

'While much of the Asian continent saw larger than usual numbers of dengue fever cases in 2013, the Kingdom of Cambodia reported a 58 percent decrease in 2013 as compared to 2012.

Cambodia reported 17,491 cases of dengue fever during the first eleven months of the year, a decrease of 58 % compared to the same period in 2012. In all of 2012, they reported 42,362 cases of dengue.

This also resulted in a big decrease in dengue fatalities from 2012 to 2013. From January to November this year , 59 children died of dengue, against 183 in the same period in 2012, a decrease of 68% , said Dr. Char Meng Chuor , director of the National Center for Parasitology , Entomology and malaria control .'
~http://www.theglobaldispatch.com/cambodia-reports-big-decrease-in-dengue-in-2013/

Cambodians Vitamin A Deficient

'Alarmingly high rates of anemia were found among preschool-aged children in rural Cambodia; prevalence was highest among children less than 24 months of age (nearly 70%).'

~Helen Keller International

You Know Cambodia's Economy is Quickly Developing When...(3)

Cambodia's health system is ill-equipped to deal with the
increase of high blood pressure among its citizens

You know Cambodia's economy is quickly developing when high blood pressure becomes a serious problem in the kingdom.

As income rises for many Cambodians so to does the access to more protein and alcohol and with that comes hypertension; although just 11 percent of Cambodians have high blood pressure, compared to 31 per cent of Americans, the conditions has jumped over the last two decades from the fifth most preventable risk factor for death to the second.


Worrying, many Cambodian doctors don't take the blood pressure of their patients and therefore approximately 85% of Cambodians with hypertension are unaware of their affliction.

40% of Cambodian Kids Shorter than they Should Be

A recent survey shows that a staggeringly-high 40% of Cambodians under the age of 5 are stunted. Compare that to the Southeast Asian average of 19%. And 30% of Cambodian kids are deemed underweight.

Such appalling figures have much to do with poor sanitation and the inevitable resulting health issues and illnesses; just 57% of rural Cambodian households have basic toilet facilities, for example.

Cambodian Health Expenditure

                                                                                 

Health care for the average Cambodian is poor, so it's not hard to imagine how difficult it must be if you are sick in Myanmar. Click on post to see real spending power on health in Southeast Asia.

A Depraved Cambodian Doctor: Reprised

Leang was doused in petrol and set alight by his corrupt yet influential boss.

Seriously ill, his wife Ting, set about trying to find treatment. Trudging from hospital to hospital, in incredible pain, he was offered nothing more than an intravenous drip and balm for his wounds.

Desperate, they made their way to Phnom Penh and the wards of one of the capital’s larger hospitals. Here, they hoped, Leang would find the treatment he needed. And, because the hospital that Leang was slumped in was a state one, that treatment should be free.

So tells Joel Brinkley in his new book ‘Cambodia’s Curse’ The story continues:

“Several hours later a doctor came in and told us the burn was very serious and he needed to clean the wounds. But we would have to pay him $100. He told this to my grandmother. She is old, and had just lost a leg to a landmine. Through the evening, the price increased to $150. I was crying. I told the doctor I didn’t have $150.

The doctor said, “Well I guess we don’t need to clean the wounds’ “He took off his gloves and walked away.”

With no chance of coercing any money from the victims the monster-doctor never returned.

Leang died the next day. His ex-boss still has both his freedom and influence.

·         Cambodia’s Curse by Joel Brinkley, Public Affairs, New York, 2011

Good News Cambodia (3) Measles

Recent figures suggest that the nationwide immunization program
has all-but defeated measles in Cambodia

Both the World Health Organisation and the Cambodian Ministry of Health believe that Cambodia has all-but eradicated measles from the country.

'  Cambodia is moving closer to the nationwide elimination of measles with the National Immunization Program reporting zero cases for a full 12 months in 2012, according to a joint statement by the World Health Organization ( WHO) and Cambodia's Health Ministry on Wednesday.'

The joint statement went on to claim:

"This is a dramatic reduction from 2011 when over 700 cases of measles in children were reported and 2008 when there were over 1, 800 cases," the statement said.

The cynic in me finds in unbelievable that recorded cases of measles could drop from 700 to zero in just a year and that the figures may have been manipulated  to make both bodies look good would not surprise me an iota.

Still, it seems that the fight against the scourge of measles is being won.

Slightly Interesting Cambodian Fact (4): Phnom Penh Pharmacies

Phnom Penh has 657 registered pharmacies.That's one chemist for approximately every 2,285 people. That number doesn't include the many unlicensed pill and potion outlets scattered throughout the city.

Compare that to a region with a similar population- Auckland- which has 321 pharmacies, or one for every 4,485 people.

In 2002, the World Health Organisation claimed that 13% of all medication sold in Cambodia was either fake or below standard. Recent busts on illegal medicine peddlers and better border security especially at the Vietnamese border has, according to WHO, meant a dramatic decrease in the sale of shoddy serums and pointless pills.

No Money for Health

 A country by country comparison:

Cambodia does not fare well although it beats three of its Southeast counterparts; Indonesia, Laos and Myanmar.

Health Expenditure Per Capita (Purchasing Power Parity; International $)

2008

Rank	Country Name	Amount
	Global	$899
1	United States of America	$7,164
10	Germany	$3,922
18	Australia	$3,365
20	United Kingdom	$3,222
25	Japan	$2,817
26	New Zealand	$2,655
33	Singapore	$1,833
79	Malaysia	$621
105	Thailand	$328
113	China	$265
122	Viet Nam	$201
135	Philippines	$129
138	India	$122
140	Cambodia	$118
150	Indonesia	$91
153	Lao People's Democratic Rep.	$84
175	Myanmar	$27
177	Eritrea	$18

Diarrhea Fighting Scarecrows

So what happens to the millions-upon-millions of dollars of foreign aid and UN money that flows into Cambodia every year? Who would bloody know? Certainly not much of it seems to reach the people that require it most.

Look at the folk in rural Kampot; some villagers there are dying from chronic diarrhea because they haven't yet been educated as to the importance of boiling their drinking water. Such an education project would be a simple enough exercise you would think but yet it hasn't happened.

Instead rural Cambodians continue to react to diarrhea outbreaks by fleeing their homes and going into the jungle, or by erecting scarecrows and burning fires to ward off the ghosts that they believe are responsible for the sickness.

Scarecrows as a deterrent to diarrhea in the 21st Century! That's an outrage; it's time to ask your government and the UN just what it is they do with all of that taxpayers cash. 'Cause value for money it ain't.