Czech Republic handed over $400k worth of equipment, supports reduction of maternal and neonatal mortality in Cambodia

On May 17, 2022, the handover of equipment took place within the framework of a project Improving capacity of maternal and child care in a newly built perinatal care center, Cambodia. National Paediatric Hospital in Phnom Penh is the main partner on the Cambodian side of the project, consisting of medical staff trainings and other soft activities, mutual visits and equipment delivery. The aim of the project is to improve the quality of perinatology services provided at the partner hospital and contribute to the achievement of one of the SDGs aiming to reduce maternal and neonatal mortality. The delivery, consisting of a set of medical equipment for operating theatres and intensive care, was carried out by Caritas Czech Republic in cooperation with the local private sector DKSH. These devices and equipment will be used to improve both the quality of diagnostic care and the safe performance of surgical procedures in operating theatres and subsequent intensive and standard inpatient care. Due to the nature of NPH's operations and patient diagnoses, the medical equipment mix is also adapted to specific local conditions such as building and energy constraints. The supply of equipment is also part of the project Memorandum of Understanding that the Czech Development Agency has signed with the Cambodian Ministry of Health. The total value of the imported equipment is 400 000,- USD.

The handover was attended by the Cambodian Minister of Health Mam Bun Heng, who mentioned during his speech the long-term cooperation between the Czech and Cambodian sides in the health sector and especially appreciated the presence of a Czech obstetrician who is currently working in the National Paediatric Hospital within the same project. In his speech, Ambassador Martin Vávra described the history of this cooperation dating back to the 1980s and also recalled that the Czech Republic had renewed these relations in 2009, when several paediatric patients were transferred to the Czech Republic under the MEDEVAC programme. Other participants at the event included representatives of the implementer, hospital staff and local media. The event received wide coverage in the local media in both Khmer and English.

The facility is now housed in a newly constructed but not fully completed building that was to serve as a maternity ward. The partner hospital was a past beneficiary of the Neonatal Department Development Project, and under this project both training and two deliveries (of medical equipment and training equipment) were carried out. The hospital expressed interest in building a first perinatology centre in Cambodia based on the model of the Czech one visited in Prague during an exchange within the neonatology project. In the meantime, however, a new building was constructed with government funds, whose capacity exceeds the capacity of the hospital's maternity ward. After a visit by Czech experts from the General University Hospital in Prague within the current project, the hospital was advised that such a centre could be created in the existing building, provided there was good organisation of care and continuity of individual processes. A Czech doctor is now helping with the set-up of these processes on site. At the same time, the on-site physician, in collaboration with the Embassy, other development partners and government officials, is identifying key obstacles to the full realisation of this vision.