Phnom Penh: The Minister of Health, Mam Bun Heng requested all Capital-Provincial Governors to remind the Health Departments under their Capital-Provincial Administration to take measures to provide health services to the people 24 hours a day to provide better services to the people.

In a letter dated 21 April 2022, Minister Mam Bun Heng stated that the Ministry had observed that a small number of referral hospitals and health centers were still short of 24-hour service, which affected to provide public services to the people. Therefore, he asked all capital-provincial administrations to review this case by updating and monitoring regularly.

The Minister said: "We must provide 24-hour service to the people who go to receive medical services, and must update their list and telephone numbers of the service staff at the health facility regularly, post it at their service point and send to the Department of Health of the Capital-Provincial Administration to monitor the implementation on a regular basis.”

San Chey, Executive Director of the Affiliated Network for Social Accountability thinks that it is a good idea that all referral hospitals and health centres are open to the public 24 hours a day, but in order for this to be effective, the Ministry of Health or the Capital-Provincial Administration should consider the benefits of night-time medical care to ensure that they are comfortable working at night, which also ensures their safety as well.

He said: "I understand that the announcement is just a reminder, but after this reminder, the Ministry of Health should look at its existing systems, such as the benefits that doctors would receive, and whether the location of the health centre makes it comfortable for doctors to work at night or not?”

According to the report of the Ministry of Health in 2017, Cambodia has a total of 117 hospitals, while there are 1,191 health centres across the country.