Parents bring their children for treatment at Kantha Bopha Children’s Hospital in Phnom Penh in July. Hong Menea
The Kantha Bopha Foundation received over $70,000 in July from donors while more than 20,000 children were given outpatient care or admitted for treatment at its five pediatric hospitals in Cambodia.
The foundation said in a press release that in July it received donations of 60,187,900 riel ($15,000) and $59,365 from 3,969 donors, including three honorary members, 2,977 support members and 989 others.
The foundation also received $1,694 from state-owned Angkor Enterprise from entrance fees of visitors to Angkor Archaeological Park for the second quarter, showing its steep decline as a source of funding for them compared to the years prior to the pandemic that saw record numbers of tourists in the Kingdom.
“The Cambodia Kantha Bopha Foundation would like to deeply thank all the donors who always give money to support and ensure the sustainability of all five Kantha Bopha Children’s Hospitals to be able to operate normally and sustainably and continue to provide free, quality and non-discriminatory paediatric examinations and services that support the government’s policy to promote social welfare, especially the wellbeing of children and infants in Cambodia,” the press release said.
The foundation requested further contributions from donors in Cambodia and internationally to ensure all five of their locations continue to operate without any service reductions.
Chan Narith, the finance ministry’s undersecretary of state and head of the foundation’s Secretariat, said on August 18 that the funds raised from the donations would be used for the sole purpose of supporting the five Kantha Bopha hospitals’ operations.
“The Cambodia Kantha Bopha Foundation is an official fund established by the government to serve the sole purpose of ensuring that the five Kantha Bopha hospitals continue their main mission to provide quality care and medical treatment to children in Cambodia free of charge and without prejudice,” he said.
The foundation said last week that despite the Covid-19 pandemic, the Kantha Bopha hospitals continue to conduct high-quality patient care as normal.
The hospital’s report showed that in July, a total of 18,818 children were treated as outpatients while 2,751 critically ill children were hospitalised. Among them, 958 children underwent surgery, with 30 of those being heart surgeries and coronary artery bypass grafts at Kantha Bopha’s Phnom Penh and Siem Reap hospitals.
The same report showed that at the maternity ward of the Jayavarman VII Hospital (Kantha Bopha III), 2,585 pregnant women came for antenatal care and treatment in the outpatient department and 1,272 women gave birth there.
