US Ambassador William Todd and Minister of Health Mam Bunheng yesterday launched a five-year, $30 million initiative funded by the US agency for international development (USAID) to support Cambodia’s fight against HIV/AIDS.

The HIV Flagship Project will “focus on individuals at high-risk of HIV infection, with services aiming to prevent the spread of the disease and improve care and treatment of those infected by HIV,” a US embassy statement said.

According to the minister, the program will aim to advance new models of technical support for HIV programming, in association with the Khmer HIV/AIDS NGO Alliance (KHANA) and international NGOs.

It will initially focus on Kampong Cham, Phnom Penh and Siem Reap.