The World Health Organisation (WHO) in Cambodia has donated more than $320,000 in medical supplies to the Ministry of Health for pandemic prevention and response efforts.

The handover ceremony was held on August 24 at the ministry’s central medical warehouse.

Health minister Mam BunHeng and WHO representative Li Ailan were both in attendance along with other senior government officials.

Li commended the government for its response to the pandemic. She also had words of praise for the Cambodian people who she said had shown patience and understanding during a very difficult period.

“The WHO will continue to cooperate with and support the Cambodian health sector and not just in the fight against Covid-19,” she said.

Bun Heng thanked WHO officials in Cambodia and at its Western-Pacific Regional Office for their ongoing financial and technical support.

“This support underscores the WHO’s strong commitment to the Cambodian government and people, especially in the current context in which we have been working together to promote measures for prevention and to respond to the spread of Covid-19,” he said.

The medical supplies included three vans equipped with heavy-duty cooling systems for vaccine transportation, personal protective equipment (PPE) such as 160,000 face masks and 160,000 pairs of gloves, as well as 8,750 bottles of hand sanitiser and 300,00 health education kits. The total value of the items comes to more than $320,000.

Ministry spokeswoman Or Vandine said last week that as WHO representative, Li had worked hard to support the ministry’s initiatives and to mobilise WHO resources on behalf of Cambodia.

“[Li’s] dedicated efforts and what the WHO has helped achieve shows that close cooperation between the WHO and ministry has resulted in real progress towards the prevention of Covid-19 transmission here,” she said.