LOOKING AT HEALTH CARE
During the reign of the Khmer Rouge, many hospitals were destroyed and doctors killed to remove any trace of Western influence. Government officials had access to hospitals and doctors, but those outside Phnom Penh had to rely on folk and herbal medicines. The traditional healer (Krukhmer) continues to advise people on the use of traditional medicines.

Many Cambodians live without clean water and electricity. Only Phnom Penh and a few other towns have water purification plants. People in rural areas use the water from rivers and streams for cooking, drinking, bathing, washing clothing and getting rid of sewage. This leads to many health problems, including hepatitis.
Malnutrition is common. Many women are infertile because they have endured long periods of malnutrition. Many diseases that have been brought under control elsewhere are still a problem in Cambodia: tuberculosis, smallpox, malaria, diphtheria, leprosy, typhoid fever, dengue fever, filariasis (a disease caused by parasites) and trachoma (an eye infection). Cholera epidemics still occur. Cases of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) have risen rapidly in the past few years.
 Did you know?
     
Sopheap, a Cambodian girl, represented the cause of land mines throughout the world. She was pictured in newspapers during the 1997 campaign to ban land mines.

   
Many land mines were left after the wars. Much suffering, maiming and death have been caused by these land mines. Rice fields where people plant, harvest and play sometimes still have mines.

The government, as a major employer, provides retirement and disability pensions for its employees. The government also provides accident compensation to people hurt on the job.
Cambodia is gradually improving its health care. This is a difficult task in a country devastated by wars. The medical school at Phnom Penh has reopened. Provincial hospitals, district clinics and village dispensaries are again functioning. Progress is slow because hospitals lack equipment and medicines and there is a shortage of trained medical staff.

The life expectancy of a female in Cambodia is 50 years. For a male it is 47 years.