In December 2010, OpASHA opened its first center in Cambodia. The country’s tuberculosis burden is one of the highest in the world with 764 cases per 100,000 people. High rate of HIV infection among new TB cases makes TB one of the primary public health issues in Cambodia today. According to the World Bank, Cambodia’s per capita income is just $2.59 a day. Affordable and accessible public health care is essential in Cambodia, and OpASHA’s model is well-suited to fill the dire need found in Cambodia’s most impoverished and isolated communities.
In Cambodia, OpASHA currently serves 1.08 million disadvantaged people in 1,097 villages in Phnom Penh and Takeo, providing TB education, diagnosis, counseling, and treatment.
Operations
In a year, OpASHA has established 57 tuberculosis treatment centers in Phnom Penh, Cambodia’s capital and Takeo. More than 7,378 patients have been enrolled, and nearly 5511 have completed treatment. OpASHA hired 49 full-time community health workers to work as our providers. In the areas we serve, the detection rate has gone up by more than 30% over same period last year.
Immediate goals
We will keep expanding in Cambodia in two ways. which will take two directions. First, we will continue expanding outside of Phnom Penh to other parts of the country. Secondly, OpASHA will install the eCompliance system (see Our Projects to learn more about eCompliance) in all the centers.
We plan to establish a total of 75 mobile centers in Cambodia by December 2014.
In brief:
- First treatment center: 12-2010
- Number of centers: 57
- Population served: 1,082,241
- Footprint: 5 OD’s in 2 provinces
- Phnom Penh: West, Sensok
- Takeo: Bati, Prey Kabas, Daunkeo