Health in Cambodia

The quality of health in Cambodia is rising along with its growing economy.

The Cambodian population and healthcare system struggles with many of the diseases common to the Tropics, in particular in rural areas. In addition, malnutrition of children has long been a major problem. HIV became an increasing problem since 1998, but the epidemic has since been almost curbed. The public health care system has a high priority from the Cambodian government and with international help and assistance, Cambodia has seen some major and continuous improvements in the health profile of its population since the 1980s, with a steadily rising life expectancy.

A health reform of Cambodia in the 1990s successfully improved the health of the population in Cambodia, placing Cambodia on a track to achieve the Millennium Development Goal targets set forth by the United Nations.[1] As a result of the reform, mortality rates significantly dropped. Similarly, life expectancy at birth in 2010 was 62.5 years, a 1.6 folds increase from 1980. On the other hand, there exists some problems that needs to be addressed. For example, in 2005, total healthcare expenditures accounted for 6.4% of GDP, the highest in Southeast Asia.[2] In addition, in 2015, 61% of the total health expenditure had been estimated to be provided by out-of-pocket payments, which might be unaffordable to the poorer segment of population in the country.