Cambodia Needs More, Cheaper AIDS Treatment, Official Says

A new study released at the conference confirmed that patients who are treated early with medication and therapy for HIV were able to live healthy lives.

01 August 2012
Men Kimeng, VOA Khmer

WASHINGTON - A major international AIDS conference wrapped up in Washington on Friday with a clear sense that an end to the epidemic is possible, given sustained financial, political and scientific commitment.

Sim Kimsen, deputy chairman of the Cambodia’s National AIDS Authority, said Cambodia needs access to cheaper drugs for treatment, “which will hopefully help reduce new infections.”

Activists are lobbying for cheaper drugs for less developed countries, like Cambodia, to help curb the spread of the disease.

A new study released at the conference confirmed that patients who are treated early with medication and therapy for HIV were able to live healthy lives.

Cambodia Joins Major HIV/AIDS Conference in Washington

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nexWtSh1FNI

Cambodian migrants in Thailand most affected by HIV

Fri May 4, 2012
PressTV

Thailand is home to more than 5 million migrants from Cambodia, Lao and Myanmar, who play a fundamental role in the country’s economic development.

The United Nations program on HIV/AIDS in its latest study has shown that in the six provinces most affected by HIV in Thailand, Cambodian migrants are the most vulnerable; the total number of HIV cases has spread to 2.5% of its population.

Many of them have difficulty to access key treatments such as antiretroviral therapy (ART).

The Ministry of Health has adopted a new national strategy for 2012-2016 to make certain that migrants and any person living with HIV in Thailand, regardless of their nationality, have access to HIV treatments.

Post story leads to relief for impoverished young girl

Theng Sreyleak talks to Post reporter Khouth Sophak Chakrya. Photo by Meng Kimlong

Friday, 16 March 2012
Khouth Sophak Chakrya
The Phnom Penh Post

Twelve-year-old Theng Sreyleak has had a tough life for a young girl – she was born HIV-positive in 2000, lost both parents when she was only three, and on January 3 suffered another blow when she was forcibly evicted from the controversial Borei Keila site along with her aunt and grandmother.

Caught up in one of Cambodia’s more controversial land disputes, Theng Sreyleak and her younger sister had settled in Borei Keila with her aunt and grandmother after her parents had died, and life wasn’t easy.

Her aunt and grandmother did their best to support the two girls by selling religious items in O’Russey market, and she was offered anti-retroviral medicine from the National Pediatric Hospital.

Theng Sreyleak was also getting some schooling and was in grade-five while her sister was in grade-nine.

Buddhist monks and UNICEF join to improve the lives of vulnerable families

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-y-nOB29uk

VIDEO: UNICEF correspondent RobMcBride reports on efforts made by Buddhist monks to support families affected by HIV in Cambodia. Watch in RealPlayer

At Ang Popel Temple, monks lead prayer sessions for people affected by HIV and AIDS. Participants also get advice on maintaining their health and a range of support services. (UNICEF Cambodia/2012/McBride)

The Buddhist Leadership Initiative has been life-changing for Cheng Sophea, who is living with HIV. She lost her husband to AIDS and is now raising their 11 year-old-son on her own. (UNICEF Cambodia/2012/McBride)

By Rob McBride
UNICEF

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia, 6 February 2012 – Cheng Sophea dropped to the ground with her son and bowed in a gesture of respect as Khun Khat arrived at her home in Kampong Speu Province, several hours outside Phnom Penh.

Ms. Cheng was diagnosed with HIV in 2002, and a year later her husband died of an AIDS-related illness. Since then, Khun Khat, a monk, has visited regularly, offering invaluable support as the 34-year-old mother comes to terms with the challenges of living with HIV while raising her 11-year-old son, Seung Panha.

“Sophea has had a lot of challenges in her life,” said Khun Khat, “but we’re advising her, and others, how to live and how to carry on.”

HIV drives families into 'irreversible poverty': UN

HIV-positive patients attend a ceremony to commemorate World AIDS Day at a pagoda in Kandal province December 1, 2011. Prime Minister Hun Sen's wife Bun Rany, who is also the head of the Cambodian Red Cross, donated relief items to HIV-positive patients during the event. REUTERS/Samrang Pring

11/12/2011
AFP

Tens of thousands of HIV-affected households in Asia are facing "irreversible poverty" because of the cost of living with the disease, with women and children hardest hit, a UN report said Thursday.

Catastrophic healthcare costs and the loss of employment opportunities due to widespread discrimination mean that many HIV-positive households across the region are in "rapid socio-economic decline," the report said.

"Without intervention, many (HIV-affected families) will slip into irreversible poverty," the UN Development Programme's deputy regional director Nicolas Rosellini said in a statement released Thursday.

Visiting HIV/AIDS-affected family in Cambodia

AIDS patient in Tuol Sambo (Photo: CNN)

By Nguon Sovan, Zhang Ruiling

PHNOM PENH, Nov. 30 (Xinhua) -- Tuol Sambou, a community for people living with HIV/AIDS in Cambodia, is located about 27 km Southern of Phnom Penh.

The community was founded in 2009 by the government of Cambodia in cooperation with non-governmental organizations working with HIV/AIDS families.

Houses have been built for HIV/AIDS victims in the community.

According to Khum Khoeun, the chief of Tuol Sambou village, currently, the community has 80 families, and 45 families out of them are the families that their members have HIV/AIDS positive.

Habitat for Humanity Supports Families Living with HIV in Cambodia

Singapore, Dec 01, 2011 (ACN Newswire via COMTEX) -- Today, on World Aids Day, Habitat for Humanity recognizes the harsh realities of day-to-day existence for people living with HIV, intensified for those without a decent place to live.

Since starting its program to assist people living with HIV in May 2010, Habitat for Humanity Cambodia has supported 183 families to secure safe and decent homes in Prey Veng, Kandal and Phnom Penh provinces.

Som Chenda, 41, found out she was HIV positive in 2000. She is a mother to five children, and one of the people that Habitat for Humanity has been working with in Cambodia: "Where I lived previously, my family and I were subjected to unkind discrimination. We could never eat outside our home as people were uncomfortable to eat near us. Parents used to tell their children not to play with mine at school."

Cambodia Marks 23rd World AIDS Day

2011-12-01
Xinhua

Cambodia on Thursday observed the World AIDS Day by vowing to achieve the UN principle to get to the three zero strategy: "zero new infections, zero discrimination, zero AIDS-related deaths" by 2020.

President of Cambodian Red Cross Bun Rany, wife of Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen, said that the prevalence rate of HIV/AIDS infections among adults aged 15 to 49 has dropped to 0.8 percent in 2010 from 2.5 percent in 1998; it is estimated that the rate would drop to around 0.5 percent by 2015.

"Cambodia has seen remarkable success in fighting the disease in over the last decade; however, much work still needs to be done in order to eliminate the tragedy from HIV/AIDS," she told the gathering of about 700 people.

Some 2,500 Cambodians die of HIV/AIDS in 2011: official

PHNOM PENH (Xinhua) – Cambodia's Vice-Chair of National AIDS Authority Tia Phalla said Tuesday that it's estimated that some 2,500 HIV/AIDS patients died this year and the deaths would decline to about 2,300 in 2012.

"Cambodia has seen success in fighting HIV/AIDS -- the prevalence rate among adults aged 15 to 49 has dropped to 0.8 percent in 2010 from 2.5 percent in 1998," he said on Tuesday at a press meeting and photo exhibition to commemorate the World AIDS Day. "However, the deaths, new infections and discrimination against people living with HIV/AIDS still persist in this country. "

He said that the number of new infections exceeds 1,000 a year.

HIV epidemic at critical juncture in Asia Pacific - UNAIDS

August 29, 2011
ABC Radio Australia

The AIDS epidemic is at a critical juncture in the Asia Pacific region, according to the UN's top body on tackling the disease, UNAIDS.

A new report launched at the 2011 International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific, ICAAP, found that while the region has seen impressive gains, there have also been setbacks.

The executive director of UNAIDS, Michel Sidibe says most countries in the region are a long way from giving all HIV sufferers full treatment and care.

The report card, it seems, is still mixed.

Presenter: Sen Lam

Speaker: Michel Sidibe, executive director, UNAIDS

Click here to listen to the audio program (Windows Media)

SIDIBE: We're just realising that after ten years, the reduction of 20 percent of infection in this region, is very encouraging. But it's encouraging, because we're seeing a new policy reform in different parts of the region. a few years ago, it was not possible to think one second, that we'll have methadone maintenance treatment in Indonesia, or in China. Today, it's there. We're seeing a growing interest for investing on HIV in many parts of the region - Thailand is almost financing the bulk of their epidemic, we're seeing China taking more and more interest in financing their programs, but at the same time, it is not time for complacency. In the Philippines, just a few years ago, we were thinking an epidemic would never happen there. We were having zero-point-one per cent of prevalence, so it was very, very low. But in less than two years, in the city of Cebu, the prevalence rose from zero point six percent to 53 percent, amongst people who injected drugs.

LAM: So, as you say, there have been impressive gains in the Asia Pacific region in recent years, such a 20 drop in infections, a threefold increase in access to therapy. But are you saying also that the gains are pretty uneven across the region?

CAMBODIA: HIV exacts big toll, says report

"Life is a daily struggle for Prach Vothy" (Photo: David Swanson/IRIN)

PHNOM PENH, 26 August 2011 (PlusNews) - Prach Vothy, a single mother of two living with HIV, is struggling to make ends meet. Food for herself and her family is often little more than a bowl of boiled water lilies – one of the cheapest items in the local market.

“It’s very difficult. We barely get by,” said the 41-year-old, who was diagnosed with HIV more than 10 years ago.

She earns just US$65 a month as a domestic worker in the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh, almost half of which goes on rent, with little left for health, education, clothing and other needs.

“My biggest fear is if the children get sick… I simply can’t afford it,” she said.

Socioeconomic impact

According to a 25 August report by the Cambodian National AIDS Authority and the UN, highlighting the economic and social challenges faced by HIV-affected households in Cambodia, her story is not unusual.

Most of the more than 75,000 HIV-positive Cambodians face similar challenges, as do the more than 60,000 households directly affected by the virus.

51% of HIV-affected households in Cambodia live in hunger: UNDP

PHNOM PENH, Aug. 25 (Xinhua) -- Some 51 percent of the HIV/AIDS-infected households in Cambodia are living in hunger, said a new UN survey released here on Thursday, calling for more attention to the need for HIV-sensitive social protection mechanisms.

The survey on the Socioeconomic Impact of HIV at the Household Level in Cambodia is the largest and most comprehensive study ever conducted in Cambodia. It was produced by the National AIDS Authority and the United Nations in Cambodia.

It had been conducted on 4,172 households including 2,623 HIV- affected households and 1,549 non-affected households.

The study found that 51 percent of HIV-affected households reportedly suffered from hunger and not having enough food to eat, compared to 35 percent of non-affected households.

Cambodia sees reduction in HIV/AIDS infection

July 05, 2011

PHNOM PENH (Xinhua) – The prevalence rate of HIV/AIDS infection in Cambodia has gradually declined to 0.78 percent by the end of 2010 from 2.75 percent in 1998, the Cambodian National Centre for HIV/AIDS, Dermatology and Sexually Transmitted Infections said in a report on Tuesday.

The report said that the HIV/AIDS transmission among adults aged 15 to 49 has dropped to 0.8 percent last year from 2.5 percent in 1998.

It added that the centre needs about 50 million U.S. dollars per year to continue efforts to prevent HIV/AIDS epidemic through education and antiretroviral drug provision to patients.

UN to meet on HIV drugs

Wednesday, 08 June 2011
Tan Yew Guan
The Phnom Penh Post

A Cambodian delegation headed by Bun Rany, the wife of the prime minister, will arrive at the United Nations General Assembly in New York today to negotiate a draft declaration on HIV/AIDS policy that has drawn sharp criticisms from NGOs in Cambodia.

NGOs fear the European Union will use the high-level UN meeting to advocate stronger intellectual property controls on the manufacture of generic copies of patented antiretroviral drugs, both through the UN’s ‘draft zero’ declaration and the its Free Trade Agreement negotiations with India.

The generic copies, 90 percent of which are estimated by experts to be manufactured in India, cost significantly less than the near identical branded originals, allowing some 40,000 people in the Kingdom living with HIV to access cheap, safe treatment.

Cambodia to reduce HIV/AIDS infection rate from mother to child to 5 pct by 2015

PHNOM PENH, Apr. 19, 2011 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia's Ministry of Health set the target to reduce HIV/AIDs infection rate from mothers to children from the current 8 percent to 5 percent by 2015 and as low as 2 percent by 2020, said a senior health official on Tuesday.

Mean Chhivun, the director-general of Cambodia's National Center for HIV/AIDS, Dermatology and Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs), said that the target was set following the increasing rate of pregnant women who have their blood tested for the virus in the last three years from 30 percent to more than 80 percent by 2010.

He added that last year, 170,000 pregnant women had their blood tested for HIV/AIDS and it found that 0.3 percent, or 510 of them have HIV/AIDS.

Accelerating the Global Health Initiative: Cambodia's HIV/AIDS Efforts Put Women in the Driver's Seat

U.S. Rep. Laura Richardson (D-Calif.), center left, visits a SmartGirl Club and interacts with beneficiaries in a Karaoke parlor in Phnom Penh during a recent visit to Cambodia. (credit: Staff)

February/March 2011
Staff
Source: USAID

The exchange of sex for money remains a major driver of the spread of HIV/AIDS throughout Southeast Asia, but the karaoke bars, massage parlors, beer gardens, and other settings where these transactions are brokered remain some of the most viable employment venues for vulnerable women.

In Cambodia—where more than 10 percent of female entertainment workers are infected with HIV, and more than 25 percent of these women and girls report having no education—USAID programming supported by the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for HIV/AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) is implementing a new approach to reducing HIV risk by focusing on the central principle of the Global Health Initiative: that the health and well-being of women is key to the health of all.

Instead of exclusively focusing on distributing condoms and conducting risk-reduction education for high-risk women, the SmartGirl program aims to improve the sexual and reproductive health of its beneficiaries more broadly through linkages to personal counseling, voluntary family planning services, clinical care, savings schemes, and legal services.

Cambodia's success in tackling HIV/AIDS threatened

Business Recorder

PHNOM PENH (December 27, 2010) : Cambodia's widely hailed efforts in tackling HIV/AIDS are under threat with foreign donors likely to cut funding over the next two decades, a study said on December 22. "The success that Cambodia has had with its AIDS programme is at risk because of the possibility that external partners will withdraw financial support too quickly," said Richard Skolnik of the Results for Development Institute (R4D).

The Cambodian government will have to spend more of its own money in the fight against the virus, study co-ordinator Skolnik added.

New HIV infections have dropped from around 15,500 annually in the early 1990s to about 2,100 in 2009. And around 93 percent of 33,500 AIDS patients who are eligible are receiving anti-retroviral treatment.

External partners fund 90 percent of the country's AIDS programme, which currently costs just over 50 million dollars a year.

But as a result of the global financial crisis and a shift in donor priorities, those funds are likely to shrink in the coming years and Cambodia "will need to significantly increase its own allocation", the report states.

The study, "The Long-Run Costs and Financing of HIV/AIDS in Cambodia", was compiled by a team of government officials with assistance from UNAIDS and US-based R4D, which specialises in health policy analysis.

The authors compared several financing scenarios from now until 2031, four decades after HIV/AIDS was first detected in Cambodia.

Each option has a different price tag and a different rate of success in preventing new infections, and all assume the government and external donors will eventually split the costs evenly.

Cambodia Risks Losing Funding, Gains Against HIV: Doctors

HIV affected Cambodians sit outside their houses at Tuol Sambo village in Phnom Penh. (Photo: AP)

Kong Sothanarith, VOA Khmer
Phnom Penh Wednesday, 22 December 2010

“The government of Cambodia and its development partners need to work together to carefully develop a financing plan..."

Cambodian and US health officials are asking the government to budget more money for HIV and AIDS, fearing that donor fatigue will erode gains the country has made in fighting the disease.

Cambodia currently spends around $50 million per year for its HIV and AIDS programs, with about 90 percent funded by donors.

However, donors tend to reduce spending on such programs over the long haul, and Cambodia needs to actually increase its spending, to about $68 million a year through 2031, to continue its progress against the disease.

Health officials said at the conference that donors tend to reduce assistance for HIV and AIDS programs over time. For example, the UK’s Agency for International Development will close its representative office in Cambodia in 2011 and stip funding health programs here in 2013.

Richard Snolnick, a doctor and professor at George Washington University, said the global economic crisis could also reduce funding for health programs. “The government of Cambodia and its development partners need to work together to carefully develop a financing plan, so that if the development partners begin to withdraw, the government can begin to substitute its own money.”

Cambodia has earned praise for the drop in its HIV and AIDS rates, but that could change if funding dries up, he said.

Cambodia has around 60,000 HIV and AIDS cases, representing a significant drop from the 1990s.

Long-term funding should now focus on intervention and prevention of target groups, “like young people, [men who have sex with men], drug users and migrants,” said Ho Naun, a member of the ruling Cambodian People’s Party and head of a government health commission.

Cambodia's success in tackling HIV/AIDS threatened: study

Mao Samnag, 28, former prostitute and HIV positive, sits down on her shelter in a shanty town in Phnom Penh

Cambodian woman Thach Samnang, who is HIV positive, sews a bag at her home at a slum village in Phnom Penh

Tuesday, December 21, 2010
AFP

PHNOM PENH — Cambodia's widely hailed efforts in tackling HIV/AIDS are under threat with foreign donors likely to cut funding over the next two decades, a study said Tuesday.

"The success that Cambodia has had with its AIDS programme is at risk because of the possibility that external partners will withdraw financial support too quickly," said Richard Skolnik of the Results for Development Institute (R4D).

The Cambodian government will have to spend more of its own money in the fight against the virus, study coordinator Skolnik added.

New HIV infections have dropped from around 15,500 annually in the early 1990s to about 2,100 in 2009. And around 93 percent of 33,500 AIDS patients who are eligible are receiving anti-retroviral treatment.

External partners fund 90 percent of the country's AIDS programme, which currently costs just over 50 million dollars a year.

But as a result of the global financial crisis and a shift in donor priorities, those funds are likely to shrink in the coming years and Cambodia "will need to significantly increase its own allocation", the report states.

The study, "The Long-Run Costs and Financing of HIV/AIDS in Cambodia", was compiled by a team of government officials with assistance from UNAIDS and US-based R4D, which specialises in health policy analysis.

The authors compared several financing scenarios from now until 2031, four decades after HIV/AIDS was first detected in Cambodia.

Each option has a different price tag and a different rate of success in preventing new infections, and all assume the government and external donors will eventually split the costs evenly.

The most cost-effective approach recommended by the authors involves focusing prevention efforts on high-risk groups such as sex workers, men who have sex with men and injecting drug users.

This could see the annual number of new HIV infections fall to just below 1,400 by 2031 while "the total cost can be kept down to 68 million dollars a year," Skolnik told AFP.

The report will be presented to the Cambodian parliament Tuesday.

"Cambodia has a long history of fighting HIV/AIDS head-on, with effective prevention strategies, and we believe that this report will help us sharpen our strategies," said Cambodian Health Minister Mam Bunheng.

The study is part of the aids2031 project, a global initiative taking a long-term look at the virus.