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(1) Equipping with modern and up-to-date equipment is a long-term consideration
Not only the foundation plan is being laid, but, according to the speech of the Minister of Health, the expansion plan is already in place […] everyone needs good health […] therefore, ensuring good, quality and sufficient services is an important task […] whereas equipping (the hospitals) with modern and up-to-date equipment is a long-term consideration […] modern equipment may be different, living conditions may be different, but people are born with the same cells […] in this regard we have to bring in the modern technology that treats people abroad (into the country). (That is why there is) the recent equipment, construction […] and we are working on equipping some hospitals with chemotherapy ability to treat cancer […]
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(2) The value of health is vital
Invesments in building hospitals and equipping them may seem like a big budget, but the return is the good health of the people, which should not be considered only in economic terms. The value of health is vital. The value of family happiness, the value of family reunions is invaluable. Those who are sick and seek treatment are cured […] as Cambodia ended the war, and is rebuilding the country, (the Republic of Korea), with a romantic sense, comes to our assistance not only in terms of investment, and economy, but also in terms of humanity and helps to establish good relations […] I would like to thank the Government of the Republic of Korea for helping the Royal Government and the people of Cambodia, and I would like to encourage further cooperation […]
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(3) Investing in human health is an investment in increasing the national assets
Human resources have been the number one priority of the Royal Government of every term, especially in the past 40 years. After the liberation from the genocidal Pol Pot regime on January 7, 1979, the main priority was to rebuild human resources […] speaking of human capital, we mean they have good health, ability and knowledge. Investing in human health is an investment in increasing the assets of the nation. Healthy citizens are assets. Citizens with poor health are a burden on their families and society […] a healthy person can help themselves, their families and society to the best of their ability. Investing in healthcare is therefore an important task […]
(4) Over 40 years, health infrastructure strengthened and expanded to the grassroots
We want a strong health sector that can treat the people […] for over 40 years, we have been doing this. In expanding the coverage of the health system, we have expanded, strengthened and pushed the health infrastructure to the grassroots. Building connecting infrastructure, roads, bridges, and highways is one way, but allocating health posts, health centers, and expanding district referral hospitals throughout the country is another […] as of 2023, we have 125 referral hospitals, 1,216 health centers, and 131 health posts […]
(5) Expanding the coverage and improving the quality of health services for people in vulnerable families and in the informal economic sector
In addition, the government has set a goal to strengthen the health sector by focusing on improving the quality of health services and expanding the coverage of health services for people, including people in vulnerable families and those in the informal economic sector. The state has already established local treatment facilities, but people have to be better of to afford it […] the better the doctor, the higher the price. We must invest in medicine. We must invest in doctors, as the best doctors would be costly. Hospitals also invest in modern equipment. We do not prohibit hospitals, both private and state, from investing more, (only that when the investment is high), they should try to avoid taking more money out of the pockets of the people. We must therefore create a social security system, which the private sector calls it health insurance […]
(6) Voluntary social security for dependents and those in informal economic sector
In this new term, we think about who else is left uncovered (by the National Social Security Fund – NSSF)? If they are not poor, not civil servants, and not company employees? We see that there are people who have a modest living, not very well off, but not too poor in the informal economic sector, for instance, those who have their own stalls to sell stuff. Civil servants are members of the NSSF now but their spouses, children, and dependents are not. What to do? That is why we have created something called the voluntary social security regime. This means that a person would pay only 15,600 riels or less than 4 US dollars a month, s/he can receive the same NSSF benefit […]
We put this formula into practice to make people able (to receive health services). If we just open health centers or allow private clinics to operate, but people in need cannot go for treatment, the policy would not be comprehensive. That means they cannot go because they lack the means. For this reason, we have allocated funds to help those in need through the Health Equity Fund and opened more channels […]
In a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Economy and Finance, HE Aun Pornmoniroth, and the Minister of Labor and Vocational Training, HE Heng Sour, I have asked for the consideration of more family packages […] can there be a discount for people whose whole family is joining […] even if they have to contribute a small part […] before reaching the possibility that we are able to have a social security regime distributed to the people (to achieve the expansion) of healthcare coverage. Counting in from August 22, when the government was born, 16 months ago, the growth of our expansion and coverage has increased a lot […]
(7) Strengthening the quality of health services focusing on four major factors
For strengthening the quality of health, I think we are focusing on four major factors – 1) physical infrastructure; 2) modern medical equipment; 3) medicine; 4) human capital. These are the for major factors that need attention and that we have done so far. In this year, the Royal Government has achieved many health achievements (on the basis of development) built from the previous terms and that we have started to implement in this term […]
If we talk about (1) the physical health infrastructure, let us find out what we have done in this year. Firstly, we officially inaugurated the Techo Santepheap National Hospital, the largest in Cambodia with 10,000 beds […]; secondly, we inaugurated Techo Sen Koh Thom Hospital in March 2024 […]; thirdly, the surgical service building at the Siem Reap Referral Hospital […]; and fourthly, the groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of a 3-story medical building at Calmette Hospital the other day […] all of which are achievements and/or means to ensure the health of citizens, maintain and strengthen the assets of the nation. At the same time, we have maintained the process of modifying, repairing and equipping Luang Mae Hospital, which we will turn into a cancer specialist […]
In addition, we plan to build two regional hospitals – one in Siem Reap province and one in Kampong Cham province, which means upgrading the equipment and skills so that people (with illnesses) don’t have to come and rely only on hospital and medical services in Phnom Penh, but can find help regionally. Since we don’t have the capacity to deploy them in all provinces, we will do it at the regional level first. We will equip them from top to bottom. The approach to modernization and increasing treatment capacity […] the Ministry of Health is also improving the physical infrastructure at district referral health centers to increase capacity (to provide health services) […]
The second factor is to equip hospital and healthcare facilities with more modern equipment. For hospitals that I have inaugurated in the past year, they all are well equipped […] in the future, in addition to regional hospitals, we will increase the capacity of provincial hospitals. We do not need to create heart surgery capacity at the district hospitals […] hospitals at the provincial level are to be equipped with what they need for heart surgery, brain surgery, and cancer […] particularly, the commune health centers and district referral hospital can treat general diseases and strengthen the capacity of primary survey and improve the ERT delivery system […] though some citizens have the ability to go abroad for medical treatment […] most citizens who do not go abroad must have the ability to receive treatment inside, where hospitals are equipped with modern equipment and operated by well-trained specialists […]
The third factor is making sure the medicines are being used to improve health, ensuring the quality of health […] in recent years, the Royal Government has increased (the size of) the health package. It is important to invest in medicines. In this 7th term, I told the Minister of Health, HE Chheang Ra, from the beginning that the bidding for medicines must be based on quality and reasonable prices […] in October 2023, I talked about increasing the quantity of some medicines, especially high blood pressure medicines and diabetes medicines, so that citizens do not have to come for it every five days […] we have increased the quantity/ration from half a month to a month […] that we are increasing the quality and the quantity, we need to invest more […]
The fourth point is concerning human. Improving the quality of health services, you need human resource […] I have set a policy for the Ministry of Health to cooperate with the Ministry of Civil Service to recruit and deploy more doctors in health centers. I have prohibited (recruitment by) many ministries over the past year, waiting for the functional analysis. Except for agriculture, where we have a policy of deploying (agricultural experts to help farmers), the two ministries that I have not prohibited are the Ministry of Health and Education, because there is the needs of doctors and teachers […]
(8) Modernization is top-down, strengthening is bottom-up
At the district referral hospital, we are taking the approach of “strengthening the base from the bottom up”. Modernization is top-down, but strengthening the base is bottom-up. The basis of services and provision of general medical treatment is from the health center, district referral hospital. Considering people is an important factor, we are strengthening human capacity with quality on professional ethics, codes of conduct, especially for health service providers, both state and private. In this work, I ask the Ministry of Health to pay attention to both state hospitals and the private sector, especially the private sector, on codes of conduct and responsibility, professional ethics, especially clear management of licenses […]
(9) An FDA-like institution in consideration
Regarding health, prevention and treatment are important. Prevention, strengthening the management of drugs, proper food with quality and safety, ensuring effectiveness, and not affecting the health of the people are tasks that relevant ministries and institutions are working hard on, including the Ministry of Health […] I have asked the (relevant) management policy framework institutions to consider a common institution, a common authority mechanism as FDA (Food and Drug Administration), which they have abroad and looked at everything from the beginning to the end or from the entrance to the end to ensure consistency. It should embody related inter-ministerial agents to increase efficiency and consistency […]
The Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education (Youth and Sports) should educate, monitor, and guide the sale of school food to young children […] there has been an increase in people with diabetes in their age of 30 and over 40 […] investment in health is not just in treatment alone, but a huge part of it is in prevention. If we only respond to treatment, it means we have already lost one battle […] the Ministry of Education, and the Ministry of Health, especially Health, should cooperate to organize and promote awareness. Understanding, helping each other in the responsible use of food, medicines, and other drugs is very important […]
(10) A tough exam tells whether one is ready to give people medical treatment
(Also, regarding human resource), education and competence […] must be taken care of. We cannot have medical exams that are easy for those who take them. We must promote high-standard training and management […] having a tough exam is a good thing. It is a time when you can tell yourselves whether you are ready to give people medical treatment or to ensure their lives, to help the sick to recover, and the dying to live […] we are not angels, but we are doing the work of angels […]
The quality of people in the health sector is key because the quality of people in general is an asset, but those who help increase and maintain assets are doctors. Those who help maintain and treat the health of the general public are doctors, whether traditional or modern […] we consider each patient as brother or sister, relative, as a merit-making ritual […] I am urging those who work in this field, take the approach that you are in the field of treating diseases, increasing the number of people who are healthy, not increasing the number of people who are sick […]./.
