Cambodia World Bank Country Profile - 2955 Words

Overview Cambodia, officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is home to 15.14 million people as of 2013 (Cambodia World Bank Country Profile, 2013). Cambodia’s economy has been growing rapidly (at around 7% in 2013) and poverty has fallen. The country has been successful in meeting it’s millennium development goal of halving poverty in 2009 (Cambodia World Bank Country Profile, 2013). Cambodia has also been successful in improving maternal and child health as well as treatment and prevention of HIV/AIDS with one of the highest antiretroviral coverage rates in the developing world (Cambodia World Bank Country Profile, 2013). Cambodia is still developing, however, and there is still much work to be done in the realm of health and†¦show more content†¦These individuals were born in the 1970’s, during which Cambodia was entrenched in a Civil war. This time period saw low births and higher mortality rates (National Institute of Statistics, 2011). As the country dev elops and health improves the population pyramid should show a more balanced base due to decreased mortality of the under-ten age groups. There is still a large disparity between urban and rural areas, with health and development lagging behind in more remote provinces (National Institute of Statistics, 2011). Epidemiologic Transition Epidemiologic transition is outlined as the change in disease patterns overtime and holds mortality as central component of population dynamics (Omran, 2005). Many health indicators show that Cambodia has been steadily improving throughout the years. Communicable diseases are still a concern and threat to health, however; HIV prevalence has fallen (less than 1% of the adult population in 2011), malaria and tuberculosis programs have improved, and vaccination rates are high (WHO Country Cooperation Strategy, 2011). Cambodia has substantially developed control programs for parasitic diseases, dengue, and diarrheal diseases. Further evidence of epidemiologic transition shows a shift towards more non-communicable diseases with high reported rates of hypertension and diabetes. Exposure to smoke and solid biofuels is a continued concern and more than 50%