US-UK Alliance “OK” for Cambodia

credit: But Bunsak/PSI, A tuk tuk driver in Cambodia buys condoms. The country has been a leader in HIV/AIDS prevention, with the government and NGOs playing a key role in coordinated outreach activities. OK condoms, distributed by Population Services International with support from USAID and the U.K.’s Department for International Development, are leading a rapidly developing condom market in the country.

March/April 2012
Brad Arsenault | PARTNERSHIP

I typically navigate the charming streets of Phnom Penh by tuk tuk, a two-wheeled wagon attached to a small motorcycle. Eager tuk tuk drivers are efficient and often serve as unofficial guides to the city. Last month, while on a longer drive across town, my garrulous driver and I chatted about family, the Khmer Rouge, and our jobs.

When I told him that I worked for USAID, he became excited. “Ah yes, USAID, you have done a lot of good things for our country,” he proclaimed enthusiastically. When I asked him specifically what he meant, he said that “USAID helped bring condoms to Cambodia, and now we have less HIV in the country.”

While I was impressed with his response, I also considered that he may just have been telling me what I wanted to hear—maybe this was just an eager driver looking for a generous tip.

This conversation coincided with the release of the 2010 Cambodia Demographic and Health Survey (CDHS), a national representative sample survey with almost 27,000 women and men ages 15 to 49. The CDHS provides a wealth of health information that helps policy makers and planners with up-to-date and reliable statistics on fertility, family planning, nutrition, malaria, and HIV/AIDS. Lending support to my driver’s statement, the CDHS found that three of five condom users, or 60 percent, use OK brand condoms and 40 percent use Number One. The success of both of these brands is born out of a unique partnership that started more than four years ago between USAID and the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID). See more pictures and read the rest of the article at USAID.gov.