Health Centers to Get Financing Boost so They Can Offer Better Service
Prime Minister Hun Manet on April 20 announced a three-year upgrading plan for health centers with a budget of more than $170 million. Photo: Sem Vanna
- By Sem Vanna
- April 21, 2024 12:00 PM
PHNOM PENH – Prime Minister Hun Manet on April 20 announced a three-year upgrading plan for health centers with a budget of more than $170 million. This will enable the centers across the country to provide better service for people, he said.
Speaking at the inauguration ceremony of a surgical service center set up at the Siem Reap Referral Hospital with Japan support, Hun Manet said that improving health centers and district referral hospitals is one of his government’s healthcare policies and top priorities.
“Improving the quality of health centers and district referrals is key to providing first aid and [care for] other illnesses,” he said. “No citizen is left without treatment.”
Hun Manet then explained that he had approved a budget of $170 million for 2024-2027 to improve the capability and service of health centers including the ability to operate 24/7, to offer treatment for the more serious illnesses, and to purchase modern equipment so that the centers can respond to emergencies before a patient can be transferred to hospitals.
As part of providing better service closer to people’s homes, the Siem Reap and Kampong Cham referral hospitals will serve as regional hospitals with the capability to treat cancer, do chemotherapy and do surgeries as well as provide advance medical treatments. The work to improve the Siem Reap referral hospital will be completed by 2030, he said.
The regional hospital project will be funded by a loan from Japan. The two governments signed the loan agreement in March 2024.
Once the project is completed, people living in nearby provinces will be able to be treated in Siem Reap instead of having to go to Phnom Penh, which could take more time and money.
Hun Manet advised the Ministry of Health to conduct more training to meet the needs and avoid the shortage of doctors. He then explained that he did not want to see health centers operate 24/7 without doctors on duty.
He also called on doctors to provide better service for people and without discrimination.
Originally written in Khmer for ThmeyThmey, this article was translated by Torn Chanritheara for Cambodianess.
