|
|
| Home > Channels > Cutting Edge > Insight: HIV and AIDS in Cambodia
|
|
|
Page 1: Insight: HIV and AIDS in CambodiaBy Darina Hul
Monday, January 14th, 2002
I cannot fully explain the depth and the magnitude of this topic, nor can I inscribe the most accurate accounts for readers to imagine. I can only paint the words that flow out of my thoughts as I read the accounts and the stories of those individuals fallen to this calamity. The distance of my life and the victims lives are far too separate. We do not share the same opportunities, the same problems or the same lifestyles. With all hopes, today is the day that many more Cambodians will understand.
It would be easy to say that there is a path for every journey. It would be easy to say that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. It would be easy to say that every ounce of pain can be compromised with a moment of warmth and resolution. But try explaining that to a single mother and her newborn baby dying of AIDS in Cambodia.
Africa is home to the largest number of HIV infected people. However, Southeast Asia, including Cambodia, is the region where the virus is spreading the fastest. It is reported that the number of infections in Cambodia is approximately four percent of the adult population, compared to two percent in Thailand.
The World Health Organization estimates that over 100,000 Cambodians aged 15-49 years are infected with HIV. Experts predict that by 2005 about 25,000 more Cambodians will be infected.
There are not many records available to document every existing HIV or AIDS case in Cambodia. Each case is different which makes it difficult to extrapolate and research each account. The first documentation of the HIV infection in Cambodia was in 1991, when a man donated blood at the National Blood Transfusion Center in Phnom Penh. Since then, many organizations including the National AIDS Programme, the World Health Organization and non-governmental organizations have done many surveys and studies documenting the statistics of HIV and AIDS in Cambodia.
In May of this past year, the Cambodian government surveyed sex workers, police men and soldiers by testing their blood samples. By testing these three main groups, the government can determine whether the HIV epidemic is increasing or decreasing. It is common for police men and soldiers to interact with sex workers, thereby transmitting the virus between one another. The survey concluded that the percentage of the population carrying the HIV virus has fallen because people have developed the AIDS virus and prevention efforts are effective. Currently in Cambodia, 159,000 individuals have the HIV virus.
Many people in Cambodia suffer from low per capita income and poor health care, which makes it difficult to provide high quality medical care to individuals that are in need. In addition, lack of education, primarily on the dangers of unprotected sex and sharing drug needles has become a major cause of the disease. Some Cambodians do not know the significance of contraception and its ability to help prevent spreading the virus or conceiving a child that would, in turn, carry the disease. |
Disclaimer: KC articles are pubished for the information and entertainment of members of KC. The material published is selected for its interest and the views expressed therein are not necessarily those of KC nor its staff. |
|
|
|
Page: [ 1 2
] |
|
|
| |
|
