The wife of Prime Minister Hun Sen distributed aid to families affected by HIV/AIDS in Kandal province yesterday as part of World AIDS Day.

During the ceremony at Krapoeunha pagoda in Takmao town, Bun Rany Hun Sen, president of the Cambodian Red Cross, delivered aid donations to more than 300 families.

As part of her address, Bun Rany urged sufferers to speak out about their condition to educate their fellow villagers about prevention and treatment of the disease.

“I appeal to pregnant women who become infected with AIDS from their husbands: hurry to receive vaccinations to protect your unborn babies from infection,” Bun Rany said. “We must work together to achieve the complete elimination of transferring HIV from mothers to their infants by 2015.”

A national conference for the government, the military, NGOs and civil society was conducted at the Chatamouk Theatre in Phnom Penh.

Prime Minister Hun Sen’s opening message at the conference was clear.

“Cambodia will achieve the Three Zeros by 2020,” he said.

The “Three Zeros” or Zero Strategy is the UN’s focus on HIV/AIDs, which aims to have zero new infections, zero related deaths and zero discrimination.

“So far, there is no medicine to cure AIDS and [it] has a serious impact on household economies, communities and national society and the whole world, especially the loss of human resources to develop countries,” Hun Sen said.