Achieving the Twin Objectives of Efficiency and Equity: Contracting Health Services in Cambodia

Abstract

Over 25 years of conflict has left Cambodia with a depleted human resource base and no functioning public service infrastructure. From a near zero base, development of a health care system has been in progress for less than a decade. Although considerable strides have been made, health indicators are still among the worst in the Asian and Pacific region. Average life expectancy at birth is estimated at only 56.4 years: 54.4 years for males and 58.3 years for females. Infant mortality rate is estimated to be 95 per 1,000 live births, while the under-five mortality rate is 124 and the maternal mortality ratio is 437 per 100,000 live births (NIS et al. 2001). The public health care system is still rudimentary, with the use of facilities at a low 0.35 contact per capita per year.