Globally, cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death. Countries with elevated poverty rates are at a higher risk for instances of cardiovascular disease, primarily due to a lack of access to health care. As of 2019, 17.8% of the Cambodian population lives in poverty, with limited access to health care, so cardiovascular disease in Cambodia is an extremely pressing issue.

The Facts

Cardiovascular disease in Cambodia is the country’s leading cause of death. This is likely due to the fact that risk factors, such as habitual smoking, are very loosely controlled. Of Cambodians over the age of 40, 12% suffer from hypertension, while 32% of Cambodian men smoke cigarettes. Given that only 60% of Cambodians with diabetes have access to treatment, it is likely that those suffering from cardiovascular disease likewise have limited resources to help. 

However, the main reason cardiovascular disease plagues Cambodia is due to lack of access to preventative care. In U.S. schools, for instance, children are educated from an early age on the dangers of nicotine and tobacco usage, which contributes to the fact that only 13.1% of U.S. adult men smoke cigarettes. The low levels of diagnosed hypertension and diabetes in Cambodia indicates that clinics in Cambodia are not thoroughly conducting preventative treatments and diagnosis. Health care providers may not be following provided guidelines for patient care, indicating a “know-do” gap. 

A study that the U.S. National Library of Medicine did discovered three major reasons for the high rates of cardiovascular disease in Cambodia. The study found that only 4.7% of Cambodian practitioners actually measured blood glucose levels, which could explain how diabetes so frequently goes undiagnosed. Additionally, only 18% of practitioners asked patients about their smoking habits, and only 33.8% knew to ask about this. Lastly, guidelines state that health care providers should measure blood pressure twice in a visit, and only 8% of doctors in the study did so. This suggests that rates of hypertension may be significantly higher than known studies imply.

Improvements to Cambodian Health Care

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) works through the “One Health Workforce-Next Generation” regional network that supports Cambodia by training health professionals on how to properly respond to human disease threats, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Over the past five years, USAID has made numerous advancements within the Cambodian health care system, including:

• Improving the cost-effectiveness of HIV response and HIV services in order to help reduce HIV prevalence from 1.7% in 1998 to 0.6% in 2020.
• Training staff at 47 health care centers and three referral hospitals on the Tuberculosis Management Information System.
• Providing more than $16 million to assist the Cambodian COVID-19 response. This money went to virtual learning equipment for 46 Cambodian hospitals and health care departments and training for 7,900 health care workers on the proper response and prevention techniques for COVID-19.

Hospitals and Health Facilities in Cambodia

In Cambodia, hospitals are concentrated in urban areas, with a lack of health facilities in rural areas. Those living in rural areas lack access to health care, but also lack access to education about dietary and lifestyle choices that may prevent cardiovascular disease. Additionally, due to limited funding and resources dedicated to hospital services, there are many indications that health care providers are also not receiving sufficient training.

Due to lack of health care access in Cambodia and the shortcomings of many health care providers, cardiovascular disease in Cambodia is an extremely pressing issue. Education about preventative measures for the entire population is critical to reducing rates of cardiovascular disease in Cambodia.

– Aubrey Acord
Photo: Flickr