Parents bring their children to Kantha Bopha Children’s Hospital in Phnom Penh in 2022. Hong Menea
Last year, nearly 660,000 sick children were treated in the outpatient ward of Kantha Bopha Children’s Hospital – a 71 per cent increase on 2021 figures, according to a hospital report.
“659,608 sick children were treated, and 119,958 were hospitalised, a jump of 48 per cent over the previous calendar year,” said the report.
It added that 4,682 children suffering from severe cases of dengue fever were admitted to the hospital, a figure which the health department has warned is likely to rise this year.
26,613 surgical procedures were carried out, including 1,055 open-heart surgeries.
The report continued that 91,015 pregnant women were examined and treated in the outpatient station – almost half as many again as in 2021 – with 22,301 deliveries taking place in the maternity ward of Jayavarman VII Hospital in Siem Reap province.
The mortality rate of hospitalised children was 0.45 per cent across the five Kantha Bopha hospitals.
In January 2023, 62,410 children were treated in the outpatient wards, with 10,193 hospitalised, 318 of them for dengue fever.
In the same month, 2,147 children underwent surgeries. Eighty-five open- heart operations and interventional catheterizations were done in the surgical wards of Kantha Bopha hospitals in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap.
At the maternity ward of Jayavarman VII, 8,677 pregnant women were examined, and 1,839 deliveries occurred.
The hospital’s foundation took to social media to highlight two unique cases.
“On January 20, a four-year-old boy was transferred from Kampong Cham province with severe pneumonia. After 15 days in the paediatric intensive care unit (PICU) – four of them on a ventilator – he recovered,” it said.
“Congratulations and a big thank you to the amazing talented team of the PICU, who saved his life,” it added.
In mid-January, the digestive unit of Jayavarman VII Hospital treated another four-year-old boy. After swallowing the head of an arrow, he was admitted to the hospital.
“Following successful treatment, the boy has now been discharged,” it concluded.
