The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA

Abstract #37870

Vuthy Keo, The Reproductive and Child Health Alliance, a USAID-funded project, P.O. Box 2471, Phnom Penh, none, Cambodia, (855-23) 213724, vkeo@racha.org.kh and Nary Lim, MD, RACHA, House #30, Street 360, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

The Democracy and Health program was initiated by the Asia Foundation (TAF) and Reproductive and Child Health Alliance (RACHA) with the support of the Ministry of Health (MoH) to help forward the process of making health services more responsive to the needs of rural Cambodians. Democratic institutions and systems of governance supportive of an open, participatory society are at an incipient stage in Cambodia. After years of social chaos and more than a decade of socialist public administration, attitudes and behaviors formed during this period continue to define the client-provider relationship. Many health care providers are only vaguely aware of even basic concepts fundamental to responsive service provision. Comparable changes in the public’s attitudes and perceptions regarding their right to receive services of acceptable quality are also needed to create demand for better treatment. The Democracy and Health program initially focuses on reproductive rights. The Cambodian Institute for Human Rights, a Cambodian NGO supported by TAF, developed a curriculum to teach all MoH staff, from provincial to health center level in one pilot district, what the public's reproductive rights are within a “good government” framework. CIHR then conducted a similar campaign for villagers in the district. A baseline survey of knowledge about clients’ rights, attitudes toward MoH care providers, and patterns of health seeking behavior was conducted. While the program is still in its first year of operation, qualitative data suggest that progressive changes are occurring among both health care providers and the users of their services.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant will be able to

• Apply basic principles of responsive government services to improve health service delivery.
• Recognize how creating demand for health services of appropriate quality is essential to improving the provision of those services by government health care providers.
• Develop interventions that contribute to good governance while improving reproductive health care.

Keywords: Reproductive Health,

Related Web page: www.racha.org.kh

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.