U.S., Britain provide $27 mil. to support Cambodia's health sector

The United States and Britain jointly granted Cambodia $27 million Monday to support Cambodia's health sector and HIV/AIDS program.

The project will improve help women access affordable, high-quality contraceptives to be able to better plan the size of their families, space out births and ensure children are healthy.

The grant was announced at a ceremony in Phnom Penh in which Marshall Elliot, deputy director for South East Asia of Britain's Department for International Development, and Erin Soto, USAID/Cambodia mission director, signed on behalf of their governments with Eng Huot, secretary of state of Cambodia's health ministry.

The grant will support work through nongovernmental organizations and the media with groups at high risk of HIV infection to help increase knowledge of key facts around HIV transmission and provide access to condoms for HIV prevention.

Soto said, "Under this new project, USAID and DFID will partner with the royal government of Cambodia to support national social marketing systems which promote health products, education and services to prevent HIV transmission, increase birth-spacing and reduce child mortality."

"The project will provide vital support to achieving the objectives of key Cambodian strategic plans for the health sector and the response to HIV," she added.

Under the project, USAID and DFID will jointly fund, and USAID will manage, a five-year program providing support and commodities for achievement of Cambodian strategic plans for the health sector, as well as contributing to Ministry of National Health program objectives in "HIV/AIDS, Reproductive and Sexual Health, and Child Survival."

The program will be implemented through a nongovernmental organization or organizations.

Cambodia has one of the highest HIV/AIDS infection rates in the region.