The US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Cambodian Ministry of Health’s Preventive Medicine Department announced a new social media and community outreach campaign that will help to reduce incidences of hypertension and type 2 diabetes.
Under the slogan “Wise Life, Healthy Life”, the campaign aims to encourage the public to establish new habits of healthy eating and physical activity. It also promotes the benefits of early diagnoses, encouraging people to visit their healthcare providers and get screened for hypertension, diabetes, and other non-communicable diseases.
Eart Pysal, deputy chief of Promoting Healthy Behaviours – a USAID-funded project – said the campaign will be run through an informal community outreach programme and will last or three years.
“We will begin this October, and are targeting Phnom Penh, Battambang and Kampong Cham provinces,” she said.
John Eyres, director of USAID’s Office of Public Health and Education, expressed hope that the campaign will inspire Cambodians to adopt healthy lifestyles and diets, and increase their physical activity.
“Like many countries around the world, Cambodia is experiencing a rise in the burden of non-communicable diseases, which are associated with urbanisation and changes in lifestyle as a result of economic development,” he said at the September 20 launch.
Kol Hero, director of the ministry’s preventive medicine department, said that reducing the burden of these conditions is a key priority of the government.
“This campaign will contribute to the fight against hypertension and type 2 diabetes, which are not only health challenges but also development challenges,” he said.
