Cambodia: Malaria on the Decline Due to Concerted Awareness Efforts

This Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN) article describes the awareness campaign for Malaria Day (April 25 2008) and other efforts to communicate the importance of prevention and early treatment of malaria in Cambodia. Health education, wide-scale distribution of insecticide-treated bed nets, and providing awareness training to village volunteers are part of the efforts that are decreasing the incidence of the disease.

Keo Sokha, malaria programme officer for the non-governmental organisation Partners for Development in Koh Kong province, stated that education programmes and growing awareness of the malaria threat have been crucial in reducing infections. Malaria awareness campaigns have reached the schools, with third- to fifth-grade primary school students in Koh Kong province learning how to prevent and treat the disease.

For Malaria Day, provincial officials, villagers, and students launched province-wide campaigns to raise awareness about the disease. Such campaigns have been ongoing: in 2004 a village health volunteers programme was launched and now reaches 100 villages in the provinces of Ratanakkiri, Kratie, Kampot, and Koh kong. In Battambang Province, for example, education prevention and bed net distribution efforts have resulted in a significant reduction, from 10,000 people infected in 2006, with 44 deaths, to 600 cases with 25 deaths in 2007. Early intervention includes community-based participation of village health volunteers who are trained to test blood for infection, make diagnoses, and provide medication. In addition to bed net distribution for remote areas where foraging for food and hunting result in vulnerability to malaria, the development and distribution of netted hammocks is being considered.