2024-Q3 Quarterly Review
Expansion: During this 3rd quarter of 2024, the new peer educator network in Boribo OD (Kampong Chhnang province) was prepared, set up and launched: First, a Peer Educator training for 10 candidates to become educator (7 from Operational District Boribo, 2 from OD Korng Meas (Kampong Cham province) and 1 from OD Krouch Chhmar (Tboung Khmum province) and exams were organized. This time all candidates passed. In addition, MoPoTsyo financially supported two medical doctors from Boribo RH to receive a two-week refresher training at Sihanouk Hospital, Center of Hope. Together with the new peer educators our Program team conducted primary prevention / health promotion on high blood pressure and diabetes at 8 communes in the OD with 310 participating local authorities and key community members. After that, the site itself was prepared for medical consultation with materials, and some donated laboratory material as well as the Revolving Drug Fund automation system that must track the drug dispensing activities at the public pharmacy of the hospital. After this the 1st laboratory session, blood drawing and urine-sampling took place attracting 48 new member-patients for creating their 1st lab profile (32 lab indicators). A few days later, the 1st consultation session by the newly trained government doctors was held at Boribo referral hospital: There were 45 patients who came for medical consultation with their 1st laboratory profile ready. During annual reviews we received further demand from our counterparts to include some specific “Health Centers with a Doctor” into the medical consultation network. If we do this, it will help cut the travel cost of the patients as it is more efficient for 1 Doctor to travel regularly to one place and see many patients than to force individual patients to travel often to the Referral hospital. This system can only work if there is updated lab profile and good treatment adherence data available for the doctor when he or she is at the Health Center.
Doctor Refresher training was done via ZOOM by Prof. Theng Youdaline for the government doctors in remote hospitals on 29 July with focus on Dyslipidemia and Diabetes in order to boost capacity to prescribe better treatments for patients with diabetes. More than 50 doctors CPA1 and CPA2 participated. The pre- and post test showed much better knowledge after this training. Dyslipidemia among diabetes patients is high (about 25% to 1/3) and too many patients among those patients did not get a statin prescribed, for unknown reason. We aim to improve this situation through this kind of refresher training together with the price reduction, see further below as affordability of access to treatment is a key issue.
Urine glucose strip distribution and primary prevention was conducted in 5 ODs, 15 Health Centers, 108 villages, 4 provinces. Almost 50,000 urine strip tests (OD’s Kang Meas and Chamkarleu, Krouch Chhmar, Ksach Kandal, Chiphou).
Revolving Drug Fund (RDF): Per August 1st, we lowered the prices of our medicines with 1/3 on average. This had been widely announced through the peer educator- and our government counterpart networks. This substantial price reduction had become possible because the medicine cost had dropped back to levels similar to 2022. This in turn was result of manufacturing in greater tablet-container (packaging): we have switched back from 100 Tablets to 1,000 Tablets for many of the items in the Revolving Drug Fund.
Program issues: Program officers participated in Provincial Technical Working Groups at Tbong Khhum and at Kampot Province and did presentations. Also, our Program officers conducted field visits to conduct the RDF satisfaction survey to prepare for annual review meetings that are held in every province before end of the year. These annual review meetings with our government counterparts were held with OD’s Kang Meas, Khsach Kandal, Angkor Chey and all 4 ODs in Kampong Speu province, the latter at Provincial health department itself. Our program officer went on mission to OD ChamkaLeu in order to provide orientation to the new peer educator manager there in facilitating the medical consultations session.
STEPS SURVEY: Our Head of Program participated in dissemination workshop on the Launching of STEPS Survey Country Report 2023, on prevalence of Noncommunicable Disease Risk Factors, the 3rd STEPS report. It is great to have this standardized tool to measure how Cambodian society, NCD disease burden and factors driving it are changing over time.
Donations: We made donation of 9 stainless steel foldable tables and 90 plastic chairs to OD Romeas Hek for support to the 9 health centers with existing peer educators. We also donated 29 Blood Glucose meters to 29 different medical consultation sites. We donated to our 190 Peer Educators in total 190 BG meters and BG strip boxes and free lancets.