Cambodia developed a non-communicable disease programme in 2009 and a lot needs to be done to ensure that the problem posed by the huge burden of diabetes and hypertension is dealt with properly.Plans and activities to be carried out under the programme still need to be developed and implemented in the country, which according to the 4th edition of the IDF Diabetes Atlas is struggling with a diabetes prevalence of 4.3%.The NGO MoPoTsyo Patient Information Centre is working actively to place these conditions on the agenda and to implement activities that will improve the lives of people living with diabetes and hypertension in Cambodia. WDF is supporting MoPoTsyo in these efforts.The objective of the project is to expand diabetes and hypertension care by creating a provincial diabetes and hypertension peer educator network.
Besides advocating for more attention and resources to non-communicable diseases, MoPoTsyo trains health care providers and peer educators and operates a health fund established to facilitate access to pharmaceuticals for patients with diabetes.The project builds upon another WDF funded project, namely "Diabetes peer education in Cambodia" (WDF07-229) which provides diabetes care through peer educators in one operational district. This project seeks to roll this model out to the provincial level by including 4 additional operational districts in the Takeo province and additionally expands its scope to include care for patients with high blood pressure.The project will train a total of 71 peer educators. These peer educators will visit villages in their local area and screen the adult population with urine glucose strips to find people with diabetes after confirmation through blood glucose estimation. Those found to have diabetes will be registered, counselled, and trained in self-management by the peer educator, who will also ensure that the patients are monitored closely. In total, around 800,000 people will be screened. It is estimated that 3,000 people will be diagnosed with diabetes as part of this project. After one or two years, the project will be expanded to also include hypertension screening. It is expected that an additional 3,000 people with hypertension will be detected, counselled etc.To ensure that patients, who need treatment, will receive proper care, 10 medical doctors working at the public referral hospital in the districts will be trained-on-the-job by a diabetes specialist. In addition, the existing drug revolving fund (DRF) to facilitate access for registered patients with diabetes and HBP through contracted pharmacies will be expanded. This will create further revenue for financing and sustaining the peer educator network in the future.Finally, in the Ang Roka district, which was the district targeted under WDF07-229, an extra component of primary prevention activities will be implemented in 49 schools. These activities will primarily target school teachers, but their students will also benefit. The aim is to increase awareness of factors that help prevent lifestyle related chronic diseases e.g. healthy nutrition and physical activity. A total of 1,079 teachers and 48,555 students will be reached through this component.
• 68 peer educators trained• 301,049 adults screened for diabetes• 4556 non-diabetic hypertension patients identified, diagnosed, counseled, registered, equipped with self-management materials• DRF shows that Diabetes patients with prescription adhere more than 70% to their routine medication• 1999 teachers in 118 schools sensitised by peer educator teams• Ministry of Health recognised Peer Educator Networks for Diabetes and Hypertension as part of its National Strategic Plan for Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases 2013-2020• Peer Educator Networks received written support from Provincial Health Department Directors in 7 Cambodian provinces where these networks exist