The National AIDS Authority (NAA), which works with UNAIDS, estimated that 1,200 people died of HIV/AIDS-related illnesses last year while 1,100 new cases were detected.

NAA secretary-general Chhim Khin Dareth said the infection and death rates are manageable, and that the nation had achieved its goals in accordance to the UN objectives.

Based on the data for 2020, some 75,000 people were registered as living with HIV/AIDS in the country, with 62,310 of them receiving anti-HIV treatment.

Of that total number, 9.6 per cent were transgenders, 5.7 per cent comprised drug users, and four per cent were men who contracted the illness through same sex relationships.

Khin Dareth told The Post on August 12 that the recent data revealed that in 2020, Cambodia continued to achieve its 90-90-90 treatment target set by the UN and the government.

The first 90 per cent goal or 84 per cent stands for people who understood the HIV symptoms whereas the second goal, standing at 99 per cent, represented those who not understand the symptoms but were receiving anti-HIV treatment. The third goal, accounting for 97 per cent of people who were receiving effective treatment.

“The spread of HIV/AIDS in Cambodia is under control, and we have achieved the goals set by the UN. Relatively, we have been the most successful in the region and have been recognised by the UN since 2017,” he said.

With this success, Khin Dareth said Cambodia is committed to achieving the 95-95-95 goal to eradicate the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the country by 2025.

He stressed that achieving the goals required the participation of everybody to implement the government’s strategic plan.

On June 8, Cambodia and other countries around the world voted in favour of a political declaration on HIV/AIDS: Ending Inequalities and Ending AIDS by 2030. The political statement and global goals for 2025 were also widely disseminated through a plenary session of the NAA.