Operation ASHA in Cambodia

In December 2010, OpASHA opened its first center in Cambodia. The country’s tuberculosis burden is one of the highest in the world with 817 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 $1.78 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 1.06 million disadvantaged people in 1283 villages in Phnom Penh and Takeo, providing TB education, diagnosis, counseling, and treatment.

Operations

In a year, OpASHA has established 51 tuberculosis treatment centers in Phnom Phen, Cambodia’s capital and Takeo. More than 3760 patients have been enrolled, and nearly 2181 have completed treatment. OpASHA hired 46 full-time community health workers to work as our counselors. 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 Phen 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 2013.