HIV/AIDS in Cambodia

HIV prevalence in Cambodia is among the highest in Asia. Although Cambodia is one of the poorest countries in the world, extraordinary HIV prevention and control efforts exerted by the Royal Government of Cambodia and its partners have helped to reduce the spread of HIV. Between 2003 and 2005, the estimated HIV prevalence among Cambodian adults aged 15 to 49 declined from 2.0 percent to 1.6 percent.

Cambodia’s HIV/AIDS epidemic is spread primarily through heterosexual transmission and revolves largely around the sex trade. HIV transmission occurs mainly in sexual partnerships where one partner has engaged in high-risk behaviors. Women constitute a growing share of people living with HIV/AIDS, comprising an estimated 47 percent of people living with HIV/AIDS in 2003, compared with 37 percent in 1998. This increased proportion of infections among women may reflect declining prevalence rates among males, as well as deaths among males infected in the early years of Cambodia’s epidemic. Significantly, a low prevalence rate in the general population masks far higher prevalence rates in certain sub-populations, such as injecting drug users, people in prostitution, men who have sex with men, karaoke hostesses and beer girls, and mobile and migrant populations. [http://www.pepfar.gov/pepfar/press/81877.htm "2008 Country Profile: Cambodia"] . U.S. Department of State (2008). Accessed September 7, 2008. PD-notice]

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