Cambodia

This video resource shows how midwives and community volunteers are helping more Cambodian women to increase the time between births, thereby contributing to healthier pregnancies, infants and families as well as to a better chance of escaping poverty. [adapted from synopsis]

This website contains brief country reports on HRH development activities in 2008 from nations belonging to the Asia-Pacific Action Alliance on HRH.

Contracting NGOs to manage the primary health care system was found to be an effective means to increase service coverage and achieve a more pro-poor distribution of services in rural areas of Cambodia. The Ministry of Health (MOH) proposed contracting NGOs to manage the public health care system at the district level using a results-based contract to monitor progress.

A study of private-sector immunization services was undertaken to assess scope of practice and quality of care and to identify opportunities for the development of models of collaboration between the public and the private health sector. A questionnaire survey was conducted with health providers at 127 private facili¬ties; clinical practices were directly observed; and a policy forum was held for government representatives, private healthcare providers, and international partners. [from abstract]

This brief reports on a project through Cambodia’s Ministry of Health which contracted health services to NGOs. Contracting NGOs to manage the primary health care system was found to be an effective means to increase service coverage and achieve a more pro-poor distribution of services in rural areas of Cambodia. [adapted from introduction]

Funding for scaling-up antiretroviral treatment (ART) in low-income countries has increased substantially, but the lack of human resources for health (HRH) is increasingly being identified as an important constraint for scaling-up ART. ART is labour intensive. Important reductions in doctor-time per patient can be realized during scaling-up. The doctor-based ART delivery model analysed seems adequate for Cambodia. However, for many districts in sub-Saharan Africa a doctor-based ART delivery model may be incompatible with their HRH constraints. [from abstract]

To improve birth spacing services in Cambodia, the development of the communication and counselling skills of all providers is critical. A a large part of this issue focuses on these skills. [editor’s description]

This assessment evalutes the RACHA program in Cambodia which was intended to strengthen the capacity and sustainability of the public and private sectors to deliver quality reproductive health and child survival services. The five technical intervention areas were birth spacing, STD/HIV prevention, safe motherhood, childhood diarrhoeal diseases and micronutrient deficiences. One of the key intermediate results identified within these areas was inproved human resource capacity to address these issues. [adapted from author]

In 1999, Cambodia contracted out management of government health services to NGOs in five districts that had been randomly made eligible for contracting. The contracts specified targets for maternal and child health service improvement. The program increased the availability of 24-hour service, reduced provider absence, and increased supervisory visits. There is some evidence it improved health. The program involved increased public health funding, but led to roughly offsetting reductions in private expenditure as residents in treated districts switched from unlicensed drug sellers and traditional healers to government clinics.

Childhood immunization is a major public health concern in Cambodia. Given the high infant and child mortality rates and the low uptake rate of immunizations, a study of knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) of communities and health workers was conducted to identify barriers to immunization and inform future information, communication and education (IEC) strategies. Quantitative and qualitative research was conducted to discover the KAP of communities and health workers towards immunization services and the introduction of hepatitis B vaccine. This paper reports on qualitative research with villagers and health workers.

The Quality Assurance Project undertook a national assessment of private sector tuberculosis (TB) services in Cambodia to improve understanding of private sector practices and the sector’s willingness to participate in efforts to improve TB services. Over 500 respondents, including doctors, pharmacists, drug sellers, and TB patients, participated. In addition, mystery shoppers visited private pharmacists and drug sellers so that the surveyed groups’ reports could be compared to actual experiences. The survey uncovered many aspects of private sector TB services that are undermining the Cambodian Government’s efforts to increase detection and cure rates. Recommendations focus on bringing the private sector into the National TB Program so that all patients seeking TB care will receive quality services. [publisher’s description]

This presentation was part of the International Conference on Global Health session, “Integration and Application: Successes and Challenges in Health-Worker Training.” It talks about the need for supervision, the supervisory problems at the Health Center, the approaches taken to address the problem, improving supervisor skills, and monitoring.

This paper seeks to elucidate HRH issues in the critical startup period of reconstruction in countries that have experienced relatively prolonged and major conflict. The examples are drawn mostly from Afghanistan and Cambodia, two countries that experienced more than twenty years of conflict. [from author]

This paper discusses the root causes of the slow reduction of childhood mortality in Cambodia in the past decades with particular focus on the role of health workforce in shaping child survival evolution. It also attempts to draw lessons learned that could be applied to boost the improvement of child health in Cambodia and other developing countries that are facing similar situations. [from introduction]