A Change of Guard

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Thursday 1 December 2011

Interview: Cambodia sees positive progress in fighting AIDS despite budget shortage

by Nguon Sovan

PHNOM PENH, Dec. 1 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia has seen significant progress in combating HIV/AIDS even though the country has subsequently faced budget shortage, said a senior government official in charge of HIV/AIDS.

With concerned efforts, the HIV/AIDS epidemic prevalence rate among people aged 15 to 49 has dropped to 0.8 percent in 2010 from 2.5 percent and 0.9 percent in 1998 and 2008 respectively, Teng Kunthy, secretary general of National Aids Authority (NAA), said in an interview with Xinhua.

He said the number of pregnant women having their blood tested for HIV/ AIDS has increased to over 80 percent by the end of 2010 from just 30 percent three years ago.

As a result, the infection rate from mother to child (among 100 mothers) currently stood at about 8 percent and was expected to decline to 5 percent by 2015 and completely eradicated by 2020, he said.

"This is thanks to our efforts and high commitments among government agencies and non-governmental organizations to fight the disease although we have faced budget shortage every year," he said.

"We have a 50 percent of budget shortage annually," he said. "Also, from 2011 to 2015, in our strategic plan, we need about 58 million U.S. dollars a year, but so far, only a half of the planned budget has been met."

He said more than 90 percent of the sources of fund are from external donors including the Global Fund, United Nations agencies, and some donor countries.

"With the shortage, we have to narrow our activities and just give the focus mainly on the most vulnerable groups," he said.

The groups who are the most vulnerable to HIV/AIDS are those working at entertainment establishments such as nightclubs, bars, karaoke parlors -- the rate of infection is as high as 14.7 percent, those using injection drugs -- the infection rate of 24 percent and those men having sex with men with the infection rate of 8.7 percent.

"These groups have many sexual partners and most of them sell sex on the sly," he said. "They do not face the issue and try to hide it, so we are difficult to access to them."

Currently, the country has an estimated 67,000 people living with HIV/AIDS. Some 6,000 of them are children, he said, adding that up to 96 percent of them have received antiretroviral drugs.

Kunthy said the country is expected to reduce the prevalence rate of HIV/AIDs infection to 0.5 percent in 2015 and would be totally eliminated by 2025.

"Also, the year 2025 can be the year of no new infection, no new death of HIV/AIDS," he added.

The discrimination against people living with HIV/AIDS has diminished in Cambodian society.

"Most people are aware of the ways the disease transmits, so they have no discrimination against the patients; instead, they feel pity to the HIV/AIDS-contracted people as over 50 percent of the patients are housewives, they have been infected the disease from their husbands who enjoyed unsafe sex outside home," he said.

However, he said, there are individuals who still have discrimination against HIV/AIDS victims.

According to a study by the United Nations Development Program on "Socioeconomic Impact of HIV at the Household Level in Cambodia" released in late August, stigma and discrimination against HIV/AIDS patients still persist in the country.

The study found that 23 percent of women reported experiencing verbal abuse as a result of their HIV status (compared with 16 percent of men), while 7 percent reported experiencing physical threats or abuse as a result of their status (compared with 4 percent of men).

Kunthy said the NAA is committed to educating people to end their discrimination against HIV/AIDS contracted people by 2015.

One of the HIV/AIDS-contracted women Noun Chanthou, 39, living in Phnom Penh's Russey Keo district, agreed that the discrimination against HIV/AIDS patients has remarkably declined if compared to five or 10 years ago.

"It's just a handful of people still discriminate against us," said Chanthou, who contracted the virus from her husband in 2000. Also, her youngest son has infected the disease.

"Now, people feel pity for me and my family," she said. "It was unlike in the past, neighbors knew that I contracted HIV/AIDS, they called me 'AIDS-contracted woman', cursed me and not allowed me to walk passing their houses," she said.

Chanthou currently works with NGO-Cambodian Woman for Peace and Development and in the evening, she avails her time to work as a waitress in a restaurant.

She said that despite over a decade with the disease, her health is still good, so are her husband and son as they have regularly used the antiretroviral drugs.

Currently, there are about 170 non-governmental organizations ( NGOs) working with HIV/AIDS.

Tem Vra, the program manager of HIV/AIDS Coordinating Committee (HACC), which is a coalition of 122 HIV/AIDS-related NGOs, said the main current challenge to fight HIV/AIDS is fund shortage.

"In recent years, the Global Fund and development partners have cut or stop funding, so some NGOs have reduced their activities or shut down," he said. "This could be a threat for Cambodia to achieve the goal of HIV/AIDS elimination."

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