Prime Minister Hun Manet has explained how the Covid-19 pandemic was an opportunity for Cambodia to assess its health sector, with the once-in-a-generation occurrence a chance to shine a spotlight on the capacity of health officials and medical staff.

While addressing the March 19 closing ceremony of the Ministry of Health’s annual meeting, Manet said the Covid-19 crisis forced Cambodian doctors, nurses and health officials to demonstrate their practical abilities, sometimes under the harshest conditions.

“All of you are aware that the pandemic forced every nation to be self-reliant and mobilise its forces – especially in the health sector – to solve its own problems,” he said.

“It was almost impossible for any country to deploy doctors or medical staff across the borders to help others. It was thanks to the leadership of then-Prime Minister Hun Sen that Cambodia was able to control the virus more effectively than many other nations, despite the fact that we suffered over 130,000 infections and more than 3,000 deaths,” he added.

If the capacity of Cambodia’s health sector was not as strong as it was, the Kingdom would be mourning far more than the number of deaths it experienced, he said, noting that he was directly involved in pandemic measures and thus had a clear understanding of the situation at the time.

“At the height of the pandemic, many patients were seriously ill. Our dedicated medical staff were able to save a great deal of them, although unfortunately they could not help 100 per cent of them,” he said.

“Their efforts, abilities and commitment to protecting the people were a source of national pride. It was entirely appropriate that my predecessor called them ‘an army in white’,” he added.

Manet also drew attention to some of the limitations that the Covid-19 outbreak had exposed in the Kingdom’s healthcare infrastructure.

He noted that areas of concern included the development and deployment of human resources, especially at the sub-national level, adding that equipment shortages and a limited capacity to transport patients were also areas for improvement.

“One positive is that the Covid-19 crisis let us learn our strengths and weaknesses, so we know which parts of the sector we need to strengthen under this seventh-mandate government,” he said.

Minister of Health Chheang Ra, speaking at the closing ceremony, described how the nation was able to weather the onslaught of the pandemic due to Hun Sen’s “proactive, visionary, wise and decisive leadership”.

“[Hun Sen] maintained socio-economic activities in several priority areas, so the economic suffering of the people was alleviated until the pandemic was brought under control. It was November 2021 when all socio-economic activities were safely restarted,” he said.

Manet also encouraged public and private healthcare providers, as well as all stakeholders, to work together to improve the Kingdom’s health sector, in order to ensure the well-being of people across the country.

The premier explained that healthy, high-quality human resources are a valuable national asset and the foundation for national socio-economic development.