Cambodia to get 31 mln USD donation for fighting malaria

Wednesday Jan. 03, 2007

The Global Fund has approved to donate 31 million U.S. dollars for Cambodia to fight against malaria from 2008 to 2012, a senior Cambodian official said on Wednesday.

Doung Socheat, director of National Center for Parasiteology, Entomology and Malaria Control, told Xinhua by phone here that the part of the fund will be used by Ministry of Women's Affairs and Veterans for educating women about malaria and gender.

Part of the fund will be used by Ministry of National Defense to take care of soldiers living in malaria-affected areas, and part of it will be used to fight against fake malaria medicines, buy bed nets and medicines for poor people, and promote awareness for prevention of malaria, said Socheat. The fund will be handed over to the health NGOs which are involved in malaria programs, he added.

In 2006, malaria was found on some 70,000 Cambodians and over 240 of them died, said Socheat, adding that the infection rate was down by more than 1 percent from 2005.
The victims were usually men from 15 to 49 years old, who went into deep forests for logging, land clearing and crop planting to support their families, he said.

Among all the provinces, Kompong Speu, Battambang, Rattanakiri, Modulkiri, Preah Vihear, Bantey Meanchey, and Oddar Meanchey saw more victims of malaria in 2006, he added.

Source: Xinhua