Speech by Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen
Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia in the 50th of Artemisinin and the International Cooperation Forum to Build a Community of Common Health for Mankind
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Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
To begin, I would like to congratulate the 50th Anniversary of Artemisinin and the International Cooperation Forum to Build a Community of Common Health for Mankind. I would also like to express my full support for all activities and cooperation that have been undertaken to build a community of common health for humanity, especially the eradication of malaria through the use of artemisinin.
Cambodia, which locates in the Greater Mekong Sub-region, used to have more than 170,000 malaria cases and nearly 1,000 deaths in the 1980s. In 2021, the number of malaria cases had dropped to 3,959 and no death in the last four years, despite the hardships caused by COVID-19 pandemic.
This remarkable achievement is born from the implementation of the National Malaria Eradication Strategy 2011-2025, formulated by the Royal Government of Cambodia, which has four strategic goals, including: 1) Earlier diagnosis and treatment 2) Provide treatment by using artemisinin properly in order to avoid Artemisinin resistance 3) Prevention Malaria transmission by using impregnated mosquito net and 4) Health education/health promotion through involvement of all stakeholders, especially people participation. At the same time, the effectiveness in the implementation of this national strategy is the flexibility adjusted in line with global and regional strategies as well as sharing lessons learnt and experiences with each other. For the future direction, Cambodia will strengthen cooperation with all stakeholders, particularly, the People’s Republic of China, through Belt and Road Initiative, the Mekong-Lancang Cooperation and China’s South-South Cooperation Assistance Fund in order to fully eradicate malaria.
I also call on all stakeholders to strengthen cooperation based on trust, people-centered partnerships, and multilateralism in order to achieve a global vision “Malaria-Free by 2025”.
Thank You!
