Health care policy and administration
Patient rights
Experts wary of fish to fight dengue
The National Dengue Control Program, a department under the Health Ministry, remains skeptical in the implementation of a new dengue-prevention method, citing concerns about the program’s long-term sustainability.Despite a Malaria Consortium pilot project – which uses guppy fish to eat mosquito larvae to stem the ...
Adolescents with HIV struggle with drug regimens, stigma
Young people with HIV are facing unique challenges, according to a recent report from Doctors Without Borders Myanmar released ahead of World AIDS Day on December 1. Adolescents with HIV aged 10 to 19 are three times more likely to experience failure with first-line anti-retroviral treatment ...
Swiss-Lao project promotes newborn care
The Swiss-Lao Hospital Project has provided medical equipment worth about US$1 million for Lao hospitals, aiming to improve conditions for new mothers and newborns around the country. Deputy Director General of the Mother and Newborn Hospital, Dr Sivanesay Chanthavongsouk, said this week the equipment would help ...
Surrogacy ban lacks force of law
Anti-surrogacy advocates have welcomed the government’s recent stance to ban surrogacy in Cambodia, though legal experts have warned that the shady practice could still continue if the prohibition is not enshrined in law. In a ministry directive, or prakas, signed October 24, Health Minister Mam ...
Government, development partners prepare for polio vaccination campaign
The Ministry of Health, in cooperation with various development partners, on November 3 held a meeting in Vientiane to prepare for a countrywide polio vaccination campaign. The polio vaccination project is supported by UNICEF and the World Health Organisation. The meeting was attended by health officials ...
Misconceptions an obstacle to contraception use: study
The greatest obstacle to increased contraception use in Cambodia isn’t the price of birth control or the social stigma around using it, a new study has found, it is fear of side effects. What’s more, this fear may arise from the many disparate medical systems operating ...
Leprosy patients suffer months with no medical care
After nine months without medical care, the posting of a single doctor to a “leprosy village” in Yangon is only a small consolation for its nearly 200 residents. For months, the villagers depended on donors to provide medicine and on health assistants or volunteers to administer ...
