HIV/AIDS

Printe-mail

Background
In the past decade, Cambodia has established itself as a global leader in the fight against HIV/AIDS – cutting adult infection rates in half and providing HIV treatment to more than 80% of people in need – by boldly and pragmatically placing resources where evidence showed they would have the greatest impact. A proud partner in Cambodia’s success, USAID has invested more than $150 million in targeted HIV/AIDS programming locally, providing almost 40% of the resources available to the national response and helping Cambodia to achieve early its targets for Millennium Development Goal 6: Halt and Reverse the Spread of HIV/AIDS.

Still, significant challenges remain. Continued success is contingent on prioritizing programs for often marginalized and stigmatized people engaged in high-risk behaviors – such as commercial sex – and thereby reducing the chances of ongoing transmission to lower-risk groups. In the face of other competing health and development priorities, it is also crucial to improve the quality and coverage of HIV/AIDS services while reducing their costs.

Objectives
Since late 2005, USAID has worked closely with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Department of State under the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). Through joint strategies and work plans, USAID collaborates with other agencies to provide $18.5 million in annual support to prevention, care, treatment and strategic information activities in Cambodia’s national AIDS program. USAID’s HIV/AIDS activities in Cambodia also contribute to the achievement of broader health and development goals by linking beneficiaries to maternal and child health, tuberculosis and other services, and by strengthening quality assurance systems. USAID and its partner agencies are also improving financial management and accounting systems, helping rebuild health infrastructure, and improving commodity distribution and control.

Results
• Helped reduce the adult HIV prevalence rate by more than half, from 2% in 1998 to 0.7% in 2010, and reduced the rate among sex workers from 39.9% in 1998 to 14.7% in 2006.

• Worked to ensure that 80% of the estimated 56,200 adults living with HIV/AIDS in Cambodia are receiving care and treatment, and helped to provide anti-retroviral therapy to 86% of those who are estimated to need it.