PHNOM PENH: The Royal Government officially launched a priority policy program on "Expanding the scope of the Equity Fund for Vulnerable Families" on the morning of October 24 under the chairmanship Prime Minister Hun Manet.

The program is the first of six priority policies to be launched from the first phase of the new administration’s Pentagon Strategy.

According to a joint statement from the Ministry of Economy, the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Planning dated September 15, 2023, the national policy is designed to provide free health care to vulnerable families throughout the country at public health facilities where the government will pay the bill.

The PM said that program will be extended to 490,000 vulnerable families who will receive benefits. He said that those who qualify will receive free medical treatment on outpatient services, contraception, hospitalization, emergency services, minor surgery, major surgery and childbirth.

Vulnerable households are defined as those living near the poverty line and have at least one in five family members with a disability, over the age of 60, or under two years old. It also applies to families of single or widowed women who are raising children on their own.

Those seeking the benefits can request to be verified using the government’s Poverty Identification Mechanism.