The royal Cambodian government (RCG) hasachieved remarkable progress in recent years in reducing thepoverty rate by more than half. However, the majority ofthose escaping from poverty only did so marginally andremain largely near-poor and still highly vulnerable to theslightest of shocks. One of the most critical factors inenabling the poor to escape from poverty, and not onlyremain non-poor but go on to prosper, lies in ensuringhigher levels of health welfare in these households. This isespecially important in rural areas, where most ofCambodia s poor reside and where health indicators show astark divergence with those for urban areas. If poverty isto continue to decline apace, and the gap between rich andpoor is to continue to narrow, then the RCG will need toensure that poor and near-poor people s health care isgreatly improved such that they can make the most of the newopportunities in education and employment that are nowbecoming available. With significant improvements in somehealth indicators over the past decade, the major challengesin health care going forward are now becoming clearer. Theseinclude: making a breakthrough in tackling high levels ofchild mortality and child malnutrition; addressing equitymore effectively in health service provision and healthspending, through pro-poor targeted programs andimprovements in the coverage and rates of use of healthequity funds (HEF); and the improved monitoring ofunregulated private providers of medication used by themajority of the poor. In addition, another crucial stepforward will be providing adequate financing and ensuringthe implementation of Cambodia s first national socialprotection strategy (NSPS).
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