Eliminating Malaria in Cambodia, One Village at a Time
URC, April 24, 2023

Soa Kimheng (top), a village focus point for malaria areas in Cambodia, gives an education session to mobile migrant workers about malaria prevention and healthcare-seeking behaviors. Photo credit: URC

Cambodia is on track to achieve its goal of eliminating all forms of malaria by 2025, thanks to years of dedicated efforts by the country’s health leadership, international partners, local organizations, and others.

Credit also is due to dedicated Cambodians such as Soa Kimheng, 44, who is making a difference one village at a time through malaria education and prevention. Kimheng is one of 35 village focus points for malaria areas supported by the U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) through the USAID Cambodia Malaria Elimination Project 2 (CMEP2).

Malaria Elimination Requires Vigilance

CMEP2 – implemented by URC – works with the Cambodia National Center for Parasitology, Entomology and Malaria Control and malaria elimination partners to develop and successfully implement a malaria elimination strategy aligned with Cambodia’s malaria elimination action framework. CMEP2 provides support in six Cambodian provinces covering 14 operational districts.

Challenges to malaria elimination remain, including:

A high proportion of malaria transmission through outdoor-biting vectors in hard-to-reach populations in remote areas;
The ongoing threat of drug-resistant Plasmodium falciparum; and
Challenges in treating Plasmodium vivax, including getting people to take the full 14-day course of medication and dealing with medication side effects.

Therefore, malaria elimination in Cambodia must plan for the prevention of reintroduction of malaria in the areas where malaria has been eliminated. That’s where Kimheng and others help.
More here: https://www.urc-chs.com/news/bringing-m ... at-a-time/