Helth and HIV/AIDs Chapter

Cambodia's health status is among the poorest in the region, as Table 13.1 shows. The public health system has suffered from war and chronic underfunding and is having serious difficulties in meeting the health needs of the population. A heavy burden of communicable diseases results in high mortality rates among children and adults. Progress has been made in seeking to revitalize the health system and to break the vicious cycle of ill health, debt, and poverty that economically cripples Cambodian families and retards the country's development. However, considerable further effort is needed to improve access to health services of improved quality. To this end, the Ministry of Health (MOH) is formulating a sector master plan linking health sector reform with the broader fiscal and administrative reforms presented