Kampong Cham, 3rd January 2008
Your Venerable Monks,
Your Excellencies Members of Senate, Parliament and Government,
Your Excellency General Commander of Military Region VII of Vietnamese Armed Force,
Military Officers, Non-commission Officers and Soldiers,
Compatriots, Teachers, Students, Ladies and Gentlemen!
Today, me and my wife have a great honor and pleasure to be here, once again, in Kampong Cham to join the official Inauguration of Humanitarian and Sympathetic Building of the Military Region II Hospital for armed forces and the people of Kampong Cham province at large. Taking this opportunity, on behalf of the Royal Government of Cambodia, myself and my wife’s behalf, I would like to express my satisfaction and sincere appreciation to Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen who had kindly contributed their financial, material and mental supports—following the concept of the “Art of Sharing”—for constructing the Humanitarian and Sympathetic Building of the Military Region II Hospital as we all witnessing here.
Taking this auspicious event, allow me to recall that after the Liberation Day on the 7th January 1979, even though we were liberated from Pol Pot genocidal regime, achievements of all sectors in Kampong Cham province as well as in other provinces were almost completely destroyed. In that context, the process of country rehabilitation has faced all sorts of difficulties, especially in the health sector. Because doctors, medical practitioners, dentists, pharmacists and nurses were all almost killed and all kind of medical equipments and facilities were totally destroyed. Fortunately, the Military Region II Hospital, formerly known as the 7D Hospital was established and first being put into operation in 1983 under profound contribution of Vietnamese volunteers who had provided financial and technical support, equipments, doctors and medical specialists. Indeed, the humanitarian and priceless activities and donations at that time had responded timely to the urgent need of Cambodian people residing in Kampong Cham province for health services such as checkups and treatments, and contributed to the rehabilitation of health sector in Cambodia. Because of this enormous support, for over 2 decades this hospital has made gradual progress and transformed itself from 7D hospital to Military Region II Hospital. So far, the hospital has provided people in Kampong Cham countless services of health counseling, checkups and treatments.
In this sense, on behalf of the Royal Government of Cambodia, myself and my wife’s behalf, I would like to convey my profound gratitude via His Excellency General Commander of Military Region VII of Vietnamese Armed Force, to Vietnamese government and its people, doctors, pharmacists, of Vietnamese volunteers who had provided all kinds of support, especially for establishment and operation and conducting training and sharing experiences to all doctors, pharmacists, nurses of this Military Region II Hospital aiming at effectively fulfilling their duties since the beginning.
At the same time, I would also like to warmly congratulate the armed force, all non-commissioned officers, soldiers, doctors, pharmacists, midwives, nurses and personnel of the Military Region II Hospital who just received 8 new buildings, the profound donations from the Cambodian Red Cross, Chair by Lokchumtiev Bun Rany Hun Sen, plus those equipments and facilities such as scanner, ultrasound machine, microscope, and ambulances. These buildings and equipments will definitely enhance the medical check-ups, treatments, and health care services for our people at the present and in the future. Furthermore, I am strongly convinced that all doctors, pharmacists, midwives, nurses and personnel will make the best use of and take the best care of these newly-received buildings and facilities with high professional ethics to strengthen and expand health care and treatment services to the people as well as to make further progress in Cambodian health sector.
I think that this Humanitarian and Sympathetic Building is another precious contribution to the needs for general diseases treatment and provide health care to our people, especially AIDS and HIV-infected patients who can come to receive medical treatment and health care services from this hospital. Furthermore, it will transform this hospital into a centre which contributes to the improvement of our people’s welfare so that they can, in turn, contribute to economic and social developments, in parallel with the RGC’s Rectangular Strategy that primarily focuses on future poverty reduction.
In general, we have made significant success in health sector, especially in providing health care and medical treatment services to our people by cooperating closely with all stakeholders and by managing to effectively prevent the epidemic of Deng Fever disease in the region. In particular, we have created a systematic health program to provide health care and treatment services timely, and reduce the mortality rate to 1% in 2007, hence 1.2% lower than 2006. We all acknowledge that the above achievement is the result of the joint efforts of all stakeholders. In this sense, on behalf of the Royal Government of Cambodia, my wife and my behalf, I would like to show my deep appreciation to the Ministry of Health and related agencies including development partners and all donors in health sector who have made substantial contribution to health sector development aiming at addressing the provision of public health care and treatment services timely and effectively.
Despite this proud achievement, we must also acknowledge that we still have many more works and duties that we must jointly addressed and respond timely to our people’s needs. In spite of the decline in maternal and infant mortality rate, it is still high compared to other neighboring countries. Moreover, we cannot avoid new problems such as new pandemic diseases - e.g. bird flu, traffic accidents, and chronic diseases. Furthermore, the fight against pandemic diseases such as AIDS, tuberculoses, malaria, bird flu and polio still require our maximum effort in order to achieve the most effective prevention of diseases and upgrading our people’s welfare.
In this sense, the RGC is strongly determined to provide all kinds of support to promote the whole health sector to enable it to deal with all health concerns of our people aiming at enhancing their welfare. At the same time, the RGC absolutely supports and encourages additional contribution from Your Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, donors, as well as national and international organizations, and development partners through the concept of “the Art of Sharing” in order to make an effective contribution to the development of health sector, a timely response to the needs of our people.
Once again, me and my wife would like to show our profound gratitude to armed forces, non-commissioned officers, soldiers, doctors, medical practitioners, nurses, midwives, and all officials of the Military Region II Hospital as well as the authority at all levels, national and international donors, especially the Cambodian Red Cross, Chair by Lokchumtiev Mrs. Bun Rany Hun Sen, that have jointly provided financial, material and mental supports to finally accomplish the construction of the wonderful Humanitarian and Sympathetic Building in the cause of promoting the people’s welfare in Kampong Cham province and contributing to national socio-economic development, aiming at alleviating poverty in Cambodia.
Finally, me and my wife would like to wish Your Venerable Monks, Your Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, national and international distinguished guests the 5 Gems of Buddhist Blessings. May I now declare the official opening of the Humanitarian and Sympathetic Building of the Military Region II Hospital.
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