By:
• Torn Chanritheara

• September 16, 2024 , 7:15 PM

PHNOM PENH – Ending tuberculosis (TB) requires multisectoral effort as the number of cases remains high despite a fall in recent years, officials say.

Cambodia recorded 32,286 cases in all forms in 2023, down slightly from 32,770 in 2022. 

The death rate due to TB has dropped from 45 in 100,000 people in 2000 to 23 cases in 100,000 in 2022, a 45% decrease, said Nou Chanly, head of the technical bureau of the National Center for Tuberculosis and Leprosy Control (CENAT). 

New cases fell from 579 per 100,000 people in 2000 to 320 per 100,000 in 2022, down 45%.

He said the treatment rate of TB had been successful. 

Cambodia was among the 30 countries with the highest level of tuberculosis in the world. After stringent efforts, Cambodia left the group in 2021 during a 2021-2025 review by the World Health Organization.  

 Nou Chanly, head of the technical bureau of the National Center for Tuberculosis and Leprosy Control (CENAT), speaks during the forum. Photo: Torn Chanritheara

Chanly said that like other countries, Cambodia’s progress will be reviewed every five years and the county may be added again to the list if the TB situation become more serious. 

CENAT director Huot Chan Yuda told journalists during a roundtable on September 16 that the incident rate remains high in Cambodia even though it has dropped and that it might affect the TB-free target set for 2030.

One of the remaining obstacles is identifying cases. A third of suspected cases have been undetected or unreported, according to the National Strategic Plan (NSP) to End Tuberculosis in Cambodia 2021-2030.

Other factors included discrimination against TB patients, the side effects of medicine and financial burdens as patients cannot work during the six-month treatment. 

Vat Lida of TB People Cambodia said discrimination even arose among family members. Lida, who was a TB patient, said that throughout her work in the community, some patients had been suffering from discrimination and depression which led them to abandon treatment while some kept their illness secret. 

Lida said that motivation and follow-up are very important for TB patients. 

CENAT director Huot Chan Yuda addresses the closing session during a roundtable on September 16. Photo: Torn Chanritheara

Huot Sok Chamroeun, director of KHANA, said detection and treatment was the way to fight TB. He said proper treatment and taking medicine regularly as prescribed will cure patients.

Chamroeun said TB diagnosis should be included in annual health check-ups to detect unknown cases.

“If we work together, we can end TB,” he said.    

On the road to ending TB, health authorities are not the only actors, Chanly said. Such vision needs participations from other actors including state, private sector, development partners and even the media profession.

“We have a common goal to fight TB in Cambodia,” he said.

Puy Kea, president of the Club of Cambodian Journalists, said that media personnel have a role to play as part of effort to end TB. He said the media could be an amplifier to raise awareness and spread the message. 

Participants pose for photo during the roundtable. Photo: Torn Chanritheara