Embassy of the United States

Speech

Remarks by Ambassador Joseph A. Mussomeli, Vitamin A Distribution in Prey Phdao Village

H.E. Dr. Nuth Sokhom, Minister, Ministry of Health, H.E. Nhek Kim Chhun, Deputy Provincial Governor, Excellencies, secretary and under secretary of state, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is my honor to be with all of you here today to support the March Vitamin A distribution campaign.  This month the Ministry of Health and its partners have strived to provide vitamin A supplementation to over 1 million Cambodian children aged 6 to 59 months in an effort to prevent blindness and strengthen their immune systems against common childhood killers, including diarrheal diseases and respiratory infections.  But the efforts of the Royal Government of Cambodia and organizations like RHAC, would not succeed without the actions of many of you -- the commitment of parents and other caretakers, village health volunteers, community support groups, and village and commune chiefs who ensure each child under 5 receives a life saving vitamin A capsule twice a year.

Cambodia still faces many challenges in providing health services to its people, but must be commended for the success it has achieved in combating HIV/AIDS.  Much of this success has been achieved through strong leadership, targeted programming and effective collaboration between the Royal Government of Cambodia, donor agencies, NGOs and other implementing partners.  As the largest funder of HIV/AIDS programs in Cambodia, the U.S. Government is a proud partner in this impressive achievement.

Unfortunately this success has not also been achieved in reducing maternal, infant and child mortality as they remain the highest in the region.  The U.S. Government is committed to continuing to work with the Ministry of Health, implementing organizations, such as RHAC, and other donors to achieve similarly impressive reductions in maternal, infant and child mortality.

For over 30 years USAID has been supporting research that has confirmed the benefits of vitamin A supplementation for women and children.  This research shows that vitamin A reduces infant and child mortality by as much as 23% -- resulting in one life saved out of a possible 4 deaths simply through the provision of vitamin A capsules.

Cambodia recognized the importance of vitamin A supplementation in 1994 and adopted a national vitamin A policy to provide vitamin A supplementation to all children aged 6 to 59 months twice a year, and to post-partum women within 8 weeks of delivery.  USAID has been working in partnership with the Ministry of Health on vitamin A for the past 15 years and is committed to continuing this collaboration.  Much of the success of vitamin A distribution has been achieved through NGOs – this is commendable in the short term.  For the longer term, USAID is committed to developing national capacity to ensure the National Nutrition Program has the ability to provide the necessary leadership to improve the nutritional status of all Cambodians.

As the father of a young child, I know how difficult it is sometimes to get him to eat properly or to remember to take him for critical immunizations.  Vitamin A deficiency is not visible until the damage has already occurred, thus ensuring your child receives vitamin A supplementation twice a year is especially challenging.  I would like to commend all of you who have brought a child for vitamin A supplementation with you here today.  I would also like to encourage each of you to ensure the children of others in your communities also receive vitamin A this month.  Today is March 27th, so there are only 4 days remaining for them to get vitamin A supplementation during this campaign, thus your actions in the next few days could help save the sight or life of a child.

Thank you.