Cambodia
[Remarks as Prepared]
- Your Excellency, Dr. Or Vandine, Secretary of State for Ministry of Health
- Your Excellency, Representative of the 8th Commision of the Senate
- Dr. Huot Chan Yuda (HOOT CHAN YUDA), Director of CENAT
- Dr. Li Ailan, WHO Representative to Cambodia
- Mr. Choub Sok Chamreu, Executive Director of KHANA, and Chief of Party of Community Mobilization Initiatives to End Tuberculosis (COMMIT)
- Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen
Good morning!
On behalf of USAID, it is a pleasure to be here with you today as a partner in the fight against tuberculosis in Cambodia.
By supporting this important national consultative meeting on multi-sectoral accountability framework (MAF) for the national TB response, we hope to underscore USAID’s commitment to assisting the National TB Control Program to end TB in Cambodia. We are excited to see high-level leadership and engagement from the Ministry of Health (MOH), which will be critical for ensuring the framework is developed, adopted, implemented and sustained over time through this multi-sectoral effort.
Much progress has been made in fighting TB in the last two decades, both globally and here in Cambodia, and I want to congratulate the Ministry of Health and the National TB Program for that success. However, despite great achievements, there are still an estimated 16,000 undetected TB cases in Cambodia. Finding these missing cases demands a great deal of resources, innovation and sustained commitment. The U.S. Government stands by you as a proud committed partner in this endeavor and we believe that through partnership, we can Stop TB.
In September 2018, at the UN High-Level Meetings, UN Member States, including Cambodia, committed to adopting and implementing the WHO recommended multi-sectoral accountability framework, or MAF, which recognizes that ending TB requires a coordinated effort and close collaboration across sectors. Once developed, this MAF will be a highly instrumental tool that the NTP and partners can rely on to guide implementation of TB activities.
To support this effort, USAID has provided a grant to the WHO for providing technical assistance to the National TB Program to assist the MOH in developing the framework and help to mobilize participation and engagement of national stakeholders. Moreover, the USAID-funded COMMIT project, implemented by Khmer HIV/AIDS NGO Alliance (KHANA) and its consortium members, has already been hard at work mobilizing stakeholder engagement. They have generated support from government bodies, international donors, UN agencies, TB organizations and networks, private sector, and individual actors such as celebrities and journalists - all towards the goal of partnering to end TB.
We are with you today to reiterate our commitment to this process and we hope that this consultative meeting will energize efforts and generate valuable input from partners across various sectors. Your input in this process will help to define the strategic approach and the roles we will each play as we work together to design, develop, and implement the multi-sectoral accountability framework for TB response in Cambodia.
In closing, I want to thank the organizers (CENAT, WHO and KHANA) for inviting us to be a part of this extraordinarily important event. I want to recognize the Ministry of Health leadership in underscoring the significance of this effort and for taking on ownership of the process. I wish you a very successful workshop and look forward to seeing the outcome of the meetings.
Thank you!