Sunday, 20 July 2008

World Bank Granted US$30 Million to Cambodia to Support Big Health Projects

Posted on 20 July 2008
The Mirror, Vol. 12, No. 569

“Phnom Penh: The Ministry of Economy and Finance released information that the World Bank has provided a credit of approximately US$30 million to the Royal Government of Cambodia to support the Second Health Sector Support Program [HSSP2], which is a project to promote the health care of Cambodian people, especially it focuses on the health of women, of children, and of the poor.

“Senior Minister and the Minister of Economy and Finance, Mr. Keat Chhon, representing Cambodia, signed an agreement to accept the credit with Mr. Ian Porter, Country Director of the World Bank for Cambodia, on Thursday evening [17 June 2008] at the Ministry of Finance.

“According to an announcement of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the project to support the HSSP2 of the Royal Government of Cambodia will be implemented for a period of five years, and up to US$130 million will be spent in total. Now, the World Bank agreed to provide US$30 million, the Australian Agency for International Development [AusAID] granted US$30 million as grant aid, the Department for International Development [DFID] of Britain granted US$50, and the Royal Government of Cambodia contributes US$20 million.

“Senior Minister Keat Chhon said during the signing ceremony that this project aims to support the health strategies of the Royal Government, to promote accesses to, and to receive and to use efficient and qualified health services. He added that the project will be organized following a new mechanism by transferring and by supplying primary health services from non-government organizations to health staff at lower national levels.

“He continued that this project has been created to support the implementation of the 2008 to 2015 health strategic plan of the Royal Government, specifically, this project will contribute to help the Cambodian government to achieve the Millennium Development Goals in the health sector.

The three Millennium Development Goals in the health sector are (among eight goals):

4.Reduce child mortality
5.Improve maternal health
6.Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases

“Professor Eng Huot, Secretary of State of the Ministry of Health, said that over the past decade, the health of Cambodian citizens is improving significantly. The life expectation of men increased from 52 to 58 years, and for women from 56 to 74 years; infant and child mortality declined, and the HIV/AIDS epidemic has been arrested.

“He added that Cambodia still faces several big problems – the maternity death rate is high, the improvement of the malnutrition situation is slow, health services are expensive, health care is not qualified yet, and accidents and noninfectious diseases increase. He went on to say that now, because of the support through the credit granted by the World Bank and by many other development partners, we expect that these major problems will be reduced.

“Also, Mr. Ian Porter said that the World Bank has been involved to promote the health sector in Cambodia since 1996 through two projects: one project to get rid of infectious diseases, and another project to support the health sector. He continued that the Bank is very pleased to see the HSSP2 off the ground, in line with the Country Assistance Strategy for Cambodia.”

Rasmei Kampuchea, Vol.16, #4645, 19.7.2008

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