Condom Program To Target All Provinces

By Seng Ratana, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
07 May 2008

A new program to expand condom use among sex workers will hit all 24 provinces and municipalities, officials said Tuesday at the official launch of the campaign.

The US and UK are providing $27 million over the next five years to help Population Services International curb the spread of HIV through condom use.

PSI Director Chris Jones said that the goal of the program is to improve the health of vulnerable Cambodians, by reducing HIV infection, and to improve the sexual and reproductive health of women.

The project will seek to make condoms widely available in the country’s brothels, karaoke bars, beer gardens and hotels.

USAID Director Erin Soto said the amount of assistance from the two countries was sizable and would not have been provided unless it was sure to be put to good use.

Social marketing such as that done by PSI works, she said.

Cambodia has about 67,000 people living with HIV or AIDS, though its prevalence has dropped in recent years.

Teng Kunthy, secretary-general of the National AIDS Authority, said condom use was the key to the reduction of the disease.

USAID and British Work to Improve Sexual Health

PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA - A new program aimed at reducing the rate of new HIV infections and child mortality and improving reproductive and sexual health for Cambodians begins May 6 thanks to the joint efforts of the U.S. Agency for International Development and the British Department for International Development (DFID).

(Media-Newswire.com) - PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA - A new program aimed at reducing the rate of new HIV infections and child mortality and improving reproductive and sexual health for Cambodians begins May 6 thanks to the joint efforts of the U.S. Agency for International Development and the British Department for International Development (DFID).

Together, the two development agencies will invest up to $27 million during the next five years encouraging the nation's most poor and vulnerable populations to use donor-subsidized contraceptives. The Evidence to Action Partnership for Health, as the program is called, will use social marketing to promote and distribute affordable contraceptives as well as change ideas, attitudes and behaviors to expand the use and sale of contraceptives throughout Cambodia.

"Through a groundbreaking partnership between USAID and DFID, this program will ensure that all Cambodians - regardless of their socio-economic status - have access to the products and information they need to make informed decisions about their health and well being," said Erin Soto, mission director of USAID Cambodia.

The effort builds on the Royal Government of Cambodia's 100% Condom Use Program, which has helped decrease HIV/AIDS in Cambodia, a rare success story in the global fight against the disease.

Also, by increasing access to high-quality, affordable contraceptives, more couples can plan births.

For more information about USAID and its programs in Cambodia, visit www.usaid.gov.

Press Office: 202-712-4320
Public Information: 202-712-4810

Donors to cut AIDS assistance for Cambodia

September 20, 2007

Three international donors have decided to reduce aid for AIDS prevention in Cambodia as the country has reportedly achieved satisfactory progress on the issue, local media said on Thursday.

The Global Fund, the Department for International Development (DFID), and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) will cut funds targeted at reducing the transmission of HIV/AIDS in Cambodia as nationwide rates have declined from 3.3 percent in the 1990s to only 0.9 percent in 2005, reported Cambodian-language newspaper the Koh Santepheap.

"The reduction in aid does not mean they have to end HIV/AIDS prevention activities. In fact, it is observed that the Royal Government of Cambodia has enough capacity to carry out on their own the fight against the spread of HIV/AIDS in Cambodia," said UNAIDS representative Pasi Rajander during a training course on AIDS prevention and labor law held through Sept. 18-20 at the National Center for Tuberculosis and Leprosy Control.

Meanwhile, Mean Chhi Vun, director of the National Center for HIV/AIDS, Dermatology and STD (NCHADS), said that the Ministry of Health will increase the number of voluntary confidential counseling and testing (VCCT) centers to 190 throughout the country by the end of 2007.

"We now have 185 centers and at the end of this year. We will have 190 centers across the countries," said Mean Chhi Vun, adding that in 2006, the country had 150 centers and the centers are vital in the prevention of HIV/AIDS.

In the first two trimesters of this year, more than 70,000 people have had blood tests at VCCT centers and with 5 percent found to have HIV, the director added.

Those who have their blood tested at the centers will receive counseling and advice on how to receive treatment services and not to transmit the virus to others if they have HIV, and how to prevent themselves if they have not carried the virus, reported another Cambodian-language newspaper the Kampuchea Thmey.

Source: Xinhua

US and Britain Give $27 Million for Health and AIDS

Seng Ratana, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
19/06/2007

US and Britain pledged Monday to give $27 million over five years for health issues and HIV-AIDS response.

In a signing ceremony Monday night, representatives of the two governments said projects devoted to education on AIDS, the virus that causes it, reproduction, sexual health and children's lives in Cambodia.

The money comes ahead of meetings Tuesday and Wednesday that will determine additional aid from donor countries.

USAID Director Erin Soto said the US aid agency provides Cambodia with about $20 million a year in HIV-AIDS funding, and in the subsequent years, USAID will focus on protection, treatment, and care for those with the disease.

Elisabeth Smith, a representative of Britain's Department for International Development, said projects would focus on preventing HIV transmission, especially among high-risk groups.

U.S., Britain provide $27 mil. to support Cambodia's health sector

Monday June 18, 2007

(Kyodo) - The United States and Britain jointly granted Cambodia $27 million Monday to support Cambodia's health sector and HIV/AIDS program.

The project will improve help women access affordable, high-quality contraceptives to be able to better plan the size of their families, space out births and ensure children are healthy.

The grant was announced at a ceremony in Phnom Penh in which Marshall Elliot, deputy director for South East Asia of Britain's Department for International Development, and Erin Soto, USAID/Cambodia mission director, signed on behalf of their governments with Eng Huot, secretary of state of Cambodia's health ministry.

The grant will support work through nongovernmental organizations and the media with groups at high risk of HIV infection to help increase knowledge of key facts around HIV transmission and provide access to condoms for HIV prevention.

Soto said, "Under this new project, USAID and DFID will partner with the royal government of Cambodia to support national social marketing systems which promote health products, education and services to prevent HIV transmission, increase birth-spacing and reduce child mortality."

"The project will provide vital support to achieving the objectives of key Cambodian strategic plans for the health sector and the response to HIV," she added.

Under the project, USAID and DFID will jointly fund, and USAID will manage, a five-year program providing support and commodities for achievement of Cambodian strategic plans for the health sector, as well as contributing to Ministry of National Health program objectives in "HIV/AIDS, Reproductive and Sexual Health, and Child Survival."

The program will be implemented through a nongovernmental organization or organizations.

Cambodia has one of the highest HIV/AIDS infection rates in the region.