Cambodia

Access to diagnosis

In Cambodia, we support the national medical biology laboratory network CAMLAB in order to ensure the quality of diagnosis. We take part in the national external quality assessment program, conducted as part of the collaboration with the Bureau of Medical Laboratory Service and the National Institute of Public Health of the Cambodian Ministry of Health, with the support of the WHO, NAMRU-2 (Naval Medical Research Unit Two) and the US CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). In addition to the national external quality assessment program set up for 43 laboratories, a continuous training plan for laboratory technicians has been deployed. This plan is used to guide the preparation of continuing education courses that cover all the necessary and priority options in medical biology to maintain and improve the capacity of technicians in professional activity.

Cambodia is part of the SEALAB project, a regional one health project, alongside Laos and Myanmar. This project aims to strengthen the region’s health systems to effectively respond to emerging infectious diseases with pandemic or zoonotic potential. In order to strengthen human and animal health laboratory networks in the three countries, the SEALAB project provides supervision, mentoring and support to laboratories around practical training, data management solutions, specimen transport and surveillance.

Enhancing research capabilities

As part of the GABRIEL network, researchers at the Rodolphe Mérieux Laboratory in Phnom Penh benefit from training modules and participate in research projects:

• Multi-country (Cambodia, India, Paraguay) prospective research on pneumococcal colonization in children and adults to determine the rate of pneumococcal colonization and the distribution of circulating serotypes in healthy children under 5 years of age and their parents in developing countries that have recently introduced pneumococcal vaccine,
• Hepatitis C mono-infection (HCV) and HIV-HCV co-infection in Cambodia: assessing the prevalence of HCV and its subtypes in people living with HIV and pregnant woman who attend prenatal appointments,
• Virologic and epidemic study of the epidemic dynamics of the influenza virus in Cambodia.

Knowledge-sharing

Continuing education plays a key role in the careers of laboratory professionals in order to keep up to date with ever-changing scientific knowledge. In partnership with the Ecole Supérieure de Biologie-Biochimie-Biotechnologies (ESTBB) of Lyon and in collaboration with the Cambodian Ministry of Health, we conduct training of trainers’ sessions for medical biology teachers. This action of capacity building for teachers allows them to use their new knowledge by organizing training sessions in biochemistry. These trainings are part of the country’s Continuing Education Plans.

Support for mothers and children

Since 2010, we have been supporting the Doctor Christophe Mérieux Center in Phnom Penh, in partnership with Enfants du Mékong and Fondation Christophe et Rodolphe Mérieux. This center enables students from underprivileged backgrounds to pursue higher education and provides housing for 250 of the most vulnerable families living in the slums. Thanks to this partnership, Enfants du Mékong has been able to develop a “Mother-Child” social project: teams of Enfants du Mékong social workers go out daily to meet idle mothers, school dropouts and forgotten communities.

With the support of Fondation Christophe et Rodolphe Mérieux, we are supporting the “1001 Fontaines” Initiative in its “Water in school” project to make quality drinking water available in the country’s elementary school.