China-aided hospitals key to strengthening Cambodia's health system

PHNOM PENH — Two China-funded modern hospitals, which were inaugurated in Cambodia recently, are crucial to strengthening the health system in the southeast Asian country.

They are the Cambodia-China Friendship Tboung Khmum Hospital in the eastern Tboung Khmum province and the Cambodia-China Friendship Medical Building at the Cambodia-China Friendship Preah Kossamak Hospital in capital Phnom Penh, which were put into use on March 7 and 21, respectively.

Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen and Chinese Ambassador to Cambodia Wang Wentian had presided over the inauguration ceremonies of the two medical facilities.

Hun Sen said he was pleased to see the two hospitals launched in the same month and expressed his profound gratitude to China for funding their construction.

"Both hospitals will not only help improve the quality of medical care services, but also respond to the need for healthcare services among our people," he said during the inauguration event of the Cambodia-China Friendship Medical Building in Phnom Penh on March 21.

Health Ministry's director-general and spokesman Hok Kim Cheng said these huge achievements were the fruit of close cooperation between Cambodia and China under the frameworks of the bilateral comprehensive strategic partnership and the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

"Both hospitals are very necessary to strengthen our health system," he told Xinhua. "They will provide great benefits and better medical care services to our people."

The five-storey hospital in Tboung Khmum province has 300 beds and the 11-floor medical building in Phnom Penh has 400 beds, Kim Cheng said, adding that the two facilities have been well equipped with high-tech medical equipment.

Ngy Mean Heng, director of the Phnom Penh Municipal Health Department, agreed that both hospitals will be very beneficial to the people.

"Cooperation with China is very useful for Cambodia to develop quality healthcare services, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic," he told Xinhua.

Eng Kheang, director of the Cambodia-China Friendship Tboung Khmum Hospital, said the hospital would make medical care services more convenient for rural people, who previously had to travel a long distance to Phnom Penh for medical treatment.

"It's a huge gift from China for Cambodia's health sector, and this new hospital will serve people better as it is equipped with modern medical technology that has not been available in the province before," he told Xinhua.

"With the assistance of medical supplies and equipment, as well as technologies from China, I believe that people will enjoy quality medical care services," Kheang said.

Tim Vuochny, a 29-year-old doctor at the Cambodia-China Friendship Preah Kossamak Hospital, said China has not only provided the medical building and equipment, but also specialists to help train local doctors.

"These are essential to strengthening our health capacity and quality and to deliver medical services to our people better and more efficiently," she told Xinhua.

"This medical building will not only greatly contribute to the development of the health sector, but also help deepen people-to-people contacts between the two countries towards a community with a shared future," Vuochny said.