- Samdech Hun
Sen,
- Excellencies,
- Ladies and
gentlemen,
-
- First some words to
the history:
- 29 years ago,
19974/75 I worked in Kantha Bopha I as a young
pediatrician under Dr. Nut Savoeng until April 1975.
12 years ago we restored the Kantha Bopha Hospital.
Its inauguration was in September 1992.
-
- 1996 we inaugurated
the second Hospital Kantha Bopha II, 1999 the third
Hospital, Jayavarman VII in Angkor and 2001 the
Maternity in Angkor.
-
- The actual
situation:
- Today we
hospitalize per year 67 000 sick children. 80 % have
no chance without these facilities. Day by day we
admit 220 children. Day by day there are 3000 sick
children to be treated in the outpatient stations. In
the maternity there are 600 deliveries per
month.
-
- All the Hospitals
are overcrowded. In Siem Reap we could buy an
additional land for 850 000 USD. The extension under
construction will soon be ready (300 additional
beds).
- In Kantha Bopha I
the conditions are no more tolerable. The Hospital is
too small, its buildings too old, its structure
destroyed.
-
- In February we
could buy this land for 2,5 Millions USD. In April I
asked one Million Swiss people to contribute 20 Swiss
Francs. Up to now we got 60% of the needed amount.
Today we start the construction. On this occasion let
me thank to all the thousands of Swiss donators for
their contribution. Thanks to their immediate response
of solidarity we can now start the
construction.
- A large outpatient
station, a large surgery with four theaters and 250
beds. Three Intensive Care Units with 120 beds. Two
Neonatal wards with 80 beds. And 250 more beds for
pediatrics. A new central Laboratory, a new imaging
department.
-
- Why the Kantha
Bopha Hospitals are overcrowded? Why day by day 3000
sick outpatients? Why day by day 220 severely sick
children have to be admitted? The system Kantha Bopha
is a system of Justice, where every child has the
right to be treated in a correct way, if poor or rich.
And 90% are miserably poor. All is free of charge. Our
medical protocols are correct, the same as in the
western world. Our drugs are correct and efficient,
the same as in the west. Our facilities are modern and
correct. You need these facilities to do a correct
diagnosis. And only a correct diagnosis allows a
correct treatment.
-
- The Budget of
running and operating costs this year is 17 Millions
USD. In Kantha Bopha there are 1450 Cambodian staff
and only three foreigners included me ( Dr. Denis
Laurent, and Laurent Gross for the construction ). The
mortality rate in our three hospitals is only 1,2 %!
Only 1,2%! These are the reasons, why the hospitals
are overcrowded.
- The average
hospitalization time is 5 days, the average costs per
hospitalization (not per night as in Hotel or in a
modern prison) is 170 USD.
-
- Still there are
experts telling you, that this is too expensive for a
poor country such as Cambodia. But we can tell these
Experts, that the Kantha Bopha's relation costs /
healing rate is better than in all other institutions
in Cambodia, is better than in similar institutions
evaluated in 40 other poor countries by an independent
neutral evaluation team.
-
- It is the right for
all sick children to get a correct and efficient
treatment. If poor or rich. And it is the duty of the
authorities, the national and the international
authorities to implement this right and not to prevent
it from being implemented. Today is still told by the
International community: you have by these hospitals
Kantha Bopha created needs for the poor masses, which
did not exist before. You have to wait until your
facilities correspond to the development index of
Cambodia. This attitude is wrong, wrong in the moral
sense, wrong in the professional sense, wrong in any
political sense, wrong in any economic sense.
-
- That is why we
wrote The Angkor Declaration for correct medicine for
every sick child. For free treatment for every sick
and poor child. First to sign was His Majesty The King
Norodom Sihanouk. Second the former President of the
ICRC Geneva, Dr.Cornelio Sommaruga. C. Sommaruga
brought the Angkor Declartion to the UN Secretary
General Kofi Annan on March 17th
2004.
-
- Already 200 000
Cambodians have signed. Cambodians who have made their
experience in our Hospitals. So this is the will of
the Cambodian people to be respected. So let us hope
that this Angkor Declaration will be a corner stone in
the Health policy of the new Minister of Health. The
background for the needed actions of the new Ministry
of Health. A corner stone for the future fate of
Cambodian children .
-
- I thank you very
much
Beat Richner
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