The medical care in the country can not be compared with Europe and often technically, in terms of apparatus and / or hygienic problem. There is often a lack of English / French speaking doctors. Even in cities or tourist centers, clinics or medical practices of good quality are not necessarily accessible to travelers. Unless the illness is minor, adequate treatment is not possible even in Phnom Penh. A flight to Bangkok is required for surgical interventions such as fracture treatment or emergency medicine. According to Neovideogames.com, every traveler to Cambodia should therefore be advised to take out health insurance with repatriation protection before starting their journey.
There is an increased risk of intestinal infections across the country. Warnings are given against consuming and buying food from typical street restaurants and markets. By eating and drinking hygienically (only boiled food, nothing lukewarm), diarrhea can be avoided.
Consistent mosquito protection (repellants, mosquito nets, covering clothing, behavior) can reduce the risk of many other tropical and infectious diseases.
HIV / AIDS is a problem in the country and a danger for everyone who is at risk of infection: Sexual contact, unclean syringes or needles and blood transfusions can pose a life-threatening risk.
Vaccinations: In addition to the usual prophylaxis, a hepatitis vaccination is particularly necessary, a combination of A and B sera is recommended. Vaccination against typhus is also recommended. Most counseling centers also advise you to get vaccinated against rabies and Japanese encephalitis. In any case, you should consult a doctor before departure to discuss the necessary precautions. The first- aid kit should include medication for diarrhea, motion sickness, fever, pain as well as wound disinfectants, insect and sunscreen, ointment for insect bites or other skin irritations, clinical thermometers and bandages.
Malaria situation: A year-round high risk exists in the rainforest in the border areas with Thailand and Laos, especially in the northeast in the province of Ratankkiri and in the west in the border area with Thailand, especially in the province of Pailin (most common pathogen type: Plasmodium falciparum, chloroquine resistance and z. T. also mefloquin resistance). Other risk areas include a wide belt through the middle of the country from southeast to northwest along the Mekong to north of the Tonle Sap; in contrast, Phnom Penh and the Angkor region are considered malaria-free.
Health and welfare
Health system
The health system is in very poor condition, especially in rural areas. Overall, the population has only very limited access to public health facilities, while private treatments remain unaffordable for many. This severely limits the poor population’s access to health services, while it is customary for the affluent elite to fly to Bangkok or Singapore for medical treatment. The most common causes of death that are not purely age-related include heart disease, respiratory diseases, strokes, premature births and traffic accidents. Diarrhea as well as malaria, dengue fever and tuberculosis are also more common in agricultural living conditions. In the urban population, on the other hand, the proportion of those suffering from diabetes has skyrocketed in recent years.
Life expectancy has risen significantly to 69 years in the last few decades, which means that Cambodia has now overtaken some of its Southeast Asian neighbors in these statistics. Child mortality among boys and girls under the age of five also fell to almost a third between 1990 and 2010. However, the shortage of midwives and obstetricians remains one of the most pressing problems in the Cambodian health sector.
Traditional medicine
Due to the high costs, Cambodians only go to doctors or hospitals in exceptional cases. Many Cambodians use traditional healing methods for non-lethal diseases. Almost all households have some basic knowledge of self-medication that is used for minor illnesses. Often it is about activating the immune system on the back, for example with hot glasses. In addition to physical recovery, Cambodians sometimes also include the spiritual level: pagodas have offered religious healing ceremonies for centuries.
Social security
The Cambodians basically have to get by without an efficient public social security system. In emergencies, every Khmer is primarily dependent on his or her personal environment, which in turn reflects the great importance and, as a rule, the close cohesion of Cambodian families. State-organized social security, on the other hand, is still in its infancy. The National Social Security Fund (NSSF) only includes civil servants and formally employed workers, which is quite relevant in view of the 2.4 million employees (2018) in the informal sector – one million more than people in official employment.
While the NSSF had 266,000 members in 2016, it was more than 1.7 million in April 2019. So far, the NSSF has only offered rudimentary accident insurance, which is to be further developed into general social insurance with old-age pension and protection against illness and unemployment by 2025. The main headache is how this can be done in the face of the systematic inadequacies of the civil service in Cambodia and how the informal sector can be included.
In addition to this classic social insurance, there is also a form of social assistance or subsidies for the poorest people in Cambodia. The ID-Poor project has systematically identified households in the area of the national poverty line in recent years, also with great German help. The system now includes around 660,000 “poor” households with around 2.7 million people across the country. Closely linked to this is the Health Equity Fund, which facilitates access to health centers and hospitals for this target group. In addition, there are support programs for pregnant women, babies and toddlers up to two years of age, as well as a scholarship program for pupils in secondary levels one and two.