Neglected tropical diseases - The case of Cambodia.

Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) represent the most common infections affecting the world’s million poorest people. In Cambodia, soil-transmitted helminths are endemic throughout the country, while lymphatic filariasis and schistosomiasis affect many people in parts of the country. Yet in barely more than a decade Cambodia has made tremendous progress in tackling these three NTDs. The country has complemented the distribution of drugs with health education and prevention strategies to improve hygiene and sanitation practices. Cambodia’s progress provides a working model of how NTDs can be controlled with minimal resources. The report explores five factors that have driven change: (1) strong collaboration between two key ministries; (2) the cost-effective integration of NTD interventions into existing health structures; (3) the support and capacity building provided to the programme through external partnerships; (4) the mobilisation of resources, including how continuous multiple outreach efforts have helped to secure funding and drug donations; and (5) broader progress in the health, education and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) sectors.

A number of challenges remain: continuing dependence on external assistance; persistent inequalities in access to health services; the need for further progress in the WASH sector to achieve lasting behavioural change; and limited intersectoral collaboration with other important ministries.