Cambodia

Our partners in Cambodia include specialists of human health and animal health. The Bureau of Medical Laboratory Services (BMLS) of the Ministry of Health is in charge of SEALAB implementation.

In Cambodia, the project’s success is built on strong partnerships:

Bureau of Medical Laboratory Services (BMLS) for the Ministry of Health

BMLS is responsible for the implementation of the National Laboratory Policy and Strategy. Moreover, it is directly responsible for centralizing management and coordinating medical laboratory services countrywide. Specifically, BMLS regulates quality assurance; develops, reviews and updates the medical laboratory policy; supervises and mentors medical laboratories; organizes continuing education programs for laboratory personnel; and coordinates standardization of laboratory techniques, equipment, reagents and test kits to fit the Laboratory Information Management System.

General Directorate of Animal Health and Production (GDAHP)

GDAHP is part of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. NAHPRI oversees animal health, research, and disease outbreak investigations. This institute is closely involved with animal health issues and stays in contact with village animal health workers, district and provincial vets. It communicates information at the local and national levels.

In the field of human health, the laboratory system includes reference laboratories:

• National Institute of Public Health (NIPH)
• University of Health Sciences (UHS)
• National Center for HIV/AIDS
• Dermatology and STD (NCHADS)
• National Center for Tuberculosis and Leprosy Control (CENAT)
• Institut Pasteur du Cambodge (IPC)

Additionally, the laboratory system covers laboratories of 9 national referral hospitals, 24 provincial referral hospitals and 84 district hospitals. The Cambodian Laboratory Information System (CamLIS) is operational in 56 laboratories.

On the veterinary side, only the Laboratory of NAHPRI is operational for testing; provincial basic laboratories only conduct autopsies and collect specimens to be sent to the central laboratory. A World Bank project provides support to set up 5 decentralized provincial veterinary laboratories in 2021.

Cambodia’s Health Strategic Plan (HSP3) 2016-2020, aims to address key challenges facing the Cambodian health system:

• Infectious diseases remain a leading cause of death. According to the MOH-National Strategic Plan for the Prevention and Control of Non-NCDs 2013-2020, communicable diseases combined with maternal, perinatal, and nutritional deaths account for 47% of all deaths in the country.
• Emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases resulting from environmental health risks and climate change remain a global health threat. They require an effective, multi-sectoral response.
• Quality of services is inadequate in both the public and private health sectors. Effective delivery of quality health services is due to a poorly trained health workforce, limited diagnostic capacity, and an insufficient supply of medicines and health commodities.
• The capacity of public health services to detect and respond to outbreaks of emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases, as well as other public health emergencies, remains limited.