Community Health Program

The Community Health Program provides the knowledge of health issue, other health support materials to the community. It is relatively encouraged a sense of care and be preventive to health issues. Community Health Program engages activities that work toward influencing health behaviors. . Caritas Cambodia has been working closely with the national and local health center in order to improve health status of the rural based people and most marginalized. Our program focuses on networking among VDA, MC and all member of society, NGOs, health center etc. The program seeks to get the people an opportunity to enrich their life. Like individual health, a healthy community is what we think important. Community based people shall be able to access to health service whenever they fall into sick or need prevention especially those affected by chronic diseases includes HIV/AIDs or Tuberculosis etc.

Community Health Program has been implementing in Battambong , Kampong Thom, Siem Reap. The program aims to improve health status of the disadvantaged communities of the target group and to encourage people to engage in health activities as well as providing education awareness on health issue.

1.  Battambong Community Health Program

Caritas Cambodia in Battambong has ambition in empowerment of villages in the targeted villages to take accountability of mutual help for finding a feasible way and builds good cooperation with VHV (Village Health Volunteer) and VHC (Village Health Center) for improving health status of the poor and marginalized in their local village. Community Health Program is a new program of Caritas Cambodia in Battambong in 2007, which is focus on community based health activities through building good cooperation with the operational district of Battambong and with other NGOs in the working areas. 3 districts, 11 communes and 56 villages are our target group along with the population of 58,736 people.

Battambong Community Health Program aim to improve health status of our disadvantaged communities of Rattanak Mondul, Samlot, and Bovel-Monkol Borei district, through health center program and community based health activities with special emphasis on women and children. Our activities include organizing community health structure, village health support group and providing general education on the disease prevention. Further the program also provides support materials for safe drinking water and mosquito nets and others.

2.  Kampong Thom Community Health Program

The Kampong Thom development program is composed of 3 programs: health program, rehabilitation program and community development program. These 3 programs are closely inter-related and the staff work together since they are complementary. At the request of the provincial health department (PHD), and with the support from Caritas Japan, Caritas Cambodia started health projects in Kampong Thom Province in the year 2000 to support the implementation of Communal health Centre in Kampong-Kou commune, according to the new district “District health coverage Plan” and to answer the health and development needs of the population of Kampong-Kou commune through Cambodian health system.

In what ways we reach our goal, there are some approaches have been counted as follow:

1. Capacity Building: District operation provides training to health center staff and village health volunteer.
2. Networking: The formation village development association is a part of importance. They shall have an interaction with this structure, because it is the powers that serve benefit to the poor in the target area.
3. Education Awareness: Caritas Cambodia prepares education campaign to the people and promoted health issue to the community by poster distribution which, for example, related to the benefit of using condom, consultation service treatment, prevention and transmission from one person to one another.

3.   Siem Reap Community Health Program in Sauth Nikum (Under construction)