Cambodia prepares to hand out 450,000 condoms during water festival

PHNOM PENH, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia is preparing to hand out 450,000 condoms during annual water festival that will kick off on Saturday, an official from National Aids Authority said.

Sim Kimsan, director of communication of National Aids Authority said Thursday that 450,000 condoms will be handed out to happy goers during the three-day water festival that will start from Saturday until Monday.

He said the main target for condoms hand outs will be the boaters, their companions, and other considered risk people who are flocking into the city as happy goers during the festival.

The government report showed that as of June this year, there were 40,039 people living with HIV/AIDS who received the anti- retroviral drugs, among them 3,881 were children.

Cambodia has been recognized in the region as a success story for having significantly reduced its HIV prevalence rate.

New estimates show that HIV prevalence among adults aged 15 to 49 has decreased to an estimated 0.7 percent in 2009 from 2 percent in 1998.

According to the government report, in 2002, there were 250 Cambodians received ARV, 1,700 people in 2003 and 8,500 in 2005.

Nearly everyone who is HIV positive is receiving the AIDS treatment they need due the efforts of the Royal Government of Cambodia and its development partners.

Water Festival is the biggest and annual event which every year millions of Cambodians, especially, those from rural areas are coming to the city to enjoy the boat race.

For this year, 420 boats were registered for the boat race and the boaters are numbered at 27,734, according to National Committee for National and International Festivals.

The 1,700-meter boat race is held on the four faces of Mekong River and other two rivers in the capital.

20,000 condoms ready for free of charge during Valentine's Day in Cambodia

February 12 2010
Xinhua

Fearing the spread of HIV/AIDS during the upcoming Valentine's Day in Cambodia, a non-governmental organization in cooperation with Cambodian authorities is ready to distribute free of charge of 20,000 condoms.

Chhim Sarath, director of Aids Health Care Foundation, said Friday that his organization will distribute as many as 20,000 condoms to the public during the Valentine's Day which will start from Saturday through Sunday.

Valentine's Day has become one of the popular get-together's day for many young Cambodians over the past several years.

Chhim Sarath said the main target of the distributions will be teenagers to alert them the awareness of the spread of HIV/AIDS and to avoid themselves from this deadly disease infection.

Cambodia is known as a successful country in Asia to curb with the spread of the HIV/AIDS through "100 percent use of condom campaign."

According to the government's statistics, the prevalence of infection rate has declined from 2 percent in 2006 to 0.9 percent in 2008 for adults aged 15 and 49, and is expected the rate will further decline to 0.6 percent by 2012.

More than 30,000 condoms to be distributed during the Boat Race Festival

Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Everyday.com.kh
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

The ministry of health of the city of Phnom Penh indicated that during the Boat Race Festival which will be held on 23-25 November 2007, it will distribute about 35,000 condoms in order to fight against AIDS. Veng Thai, the director of the health department of the city of Phnom Penh, told the Chinese news agency Xinhua that his mobile group will distribute, free of charge, 35,000 condoms during the festival. Veng Thai said: “We take this opportunity to educate people about AIDS.” A report indicated that more than 120,000 Cambodians are affected by AIDS, but the contagion rate has decreased from 3.3% in 1997 to 1.9% in 2005.During the Boat Race Festival, the city will send out 3,400 police and military police officers to help protect order during the festival which will be participated by more than 3 million people.