Skip to main content
News - 
Global

IOM, Cambodia Launch New Project to Detect, Manage TB among Migrants on Thai-Cambodian Border

Poipet – IOM and the Cambodian National Centre for Tuberculosis and Leprosy Control (CENAT) have launched a new collaboration to diagnose tuberculosis (TB) among Cambodian migrants returning from Thailand. The project, which is funded by the Global Fund for AIDS, TB and Malaria, will provide TB screening, diagnosis, health education, and referral support to over 100,000 migrants over the next three years. 

The Poipet border between Thailand and Cambodia, in Cambodia’s Banteay Meachey province, is the main crossing point for Cambodian irregular migrants returned by the Thai immigration authorities. According to Poipet officials, over 70,000 were returned through the Poipet in 2017. As irregular migrants working in Thailand, many suffered from poor working and living conditions and had limited access to healthcare, making them especially vulnerable to TB. 

Under the new project, IOM and CENAT will collaborate to offer TB screening at the Poipet Migrant Transit Centre, through providing health education, onsite digital X-ray services, referral support for TB suspect cases to get rapid diagnosis through molecular diagnosis, and follow up to ensure that diagnosed patients get access treatment through Cambodia’s national TB programme at their final destination. Poipet currently has very limited capacity for TB diagnosis and treatment. 

The project, which is part of a regional Global Fund grant implemented across Greater Mekong Sub-region countries to address TB in migrants and mobile populations, will also offer services to the local community, where many people are mobile and work on both sides of the border. 

CENAT Director Dr Mao Tan Eang launched the initiative. “This is a special free service for migrants, but we will also welcome people from surrounding villages who suspect they have TB or have symptoms such as a cough for more than two weeks, sweating at night, fever and weight loss. Please come to have a test done here,” he said. 

“This project and collaboration with CENAT is a critically important to ensure that migrants, and in particular undocumented and irregular migrants, are not left behind in the pursuit of the global health goal of ending TB for all. Collectively, governments, civil society and communities will only be able to achieve universal health coverage if no-one is left behind,” said IOM Regional Migration Health Advisor for Asia and the Pacific Dr Patrick Duigan. He added, “To eliminate TB we need to ensure that migrants and mobile populations are included in public health efforts. There can be no Universal Health Coverage or ending of TB without migrant health coverage and providing access to TB care for migrants.” 

For more information please contact Kristin Parco at IOM Phnom Penh, Email: kparco@iom.int, Tel:  +855 12 900131. 

Share this page via:

Regions
Office type
Afghanistan
Albania
Algeria
Angola
Antigua and Barbuda
Argentina
Armenia
Aruba
Asia and the Pacific
Australia
Austria
Azerbaijan
Bahamas (The)
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Barbados
Belarus
Belgium
Belize
Benin
Bhutan
Bolivia (Plurinational State of)
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Botswana
Brazil
Bulgaria
Burkina Faso
Burundi
Cabo Verde
Cambodia
Cameroon
Canada
Central African Republic (the)
Chad
Chile
China
Colombia
Comoros (the)
Congo (the)
Costa Rica
Côte d'Ivoire
Croatia
Cuba
Cyprus
Czechia
Democratic Republic of the Congo (the)
Denmark
Djibouti
Dominica
Dominican Republic (the)
East and Horn of Africa
Ecuador
Egypt
El Salvador
Eritrea
Estonia
Eswatini
Ethiopia
Europe and Central Asia
Fiji
Finland
France
Gabon
Gambia (the)
Georgia
Germany
Ghana
Global Office in Brussels
Global Office in Washington
Greece
Guatemala
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Guyana
Haiti
Honduras
Hungary
Iceland
India
Indonesia
IOM Office at the United Nations
Iran (Islamic Republic of)
Iraq
Ireland
Italy
Jamaica
Japan
Jordan
Kazakhstan
Kenya
Kuwait
Kyrgyzstan
Lao People's Democratic Republic (the)
Latin America and the Caribbean
Latvia
Lebanon
Lesotho
Liberia
Libya
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Madagascar
Malawi
Malaysia
Maldives
Mali
Malta
Manila Administrative Centre
Marshall Islands (the)
Mauritania
Mauritius
Mexico
Micronesia (Federated States of)
Middle East and North Africa
Mongolia
Montenegro
Morocco
Mozambique
Myanmar
Namibia
Nepal
Netherlands (Kingdom of the)
New Zealand
Niger (the)
Nigeria
North Macedonia
Norway
Pakistan
Palau
Panama
Panama Administrative Centre
Papua New Guinea
Paraguay
Peru
Philippines (the)
Poland
Portugal
Qatar
Republic of Korea
Republic of Moldova (the)
Romania
Russian Federation (the)
Rwanda
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Samoa
Sao Tome and Principe
Senegal
Serbia
Seychelles
Sierra Leone
Slovakia
Slovenia
Solomon Islands
Somalia
South Africa
South Sudan
Spain
Sri Lanka
Subregional Office in Brussels
Subregional Office in Pretoria
Sudan (the)
Sweden
Switzerland
Syrian Arab Republic (the)
Tajikistan
Thailand
Timor-Leste
Togo
Tonga
Trinidad and Tobago
Tunisia
Türkiye
Turkmenistan
Tuvalu
Uganda
Ukraine
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (the)
United Republic of Tanzania (the)
UNSC Resolution 1244-Administered Kosovo
Uruguay
Uzbekistan
Vanuatu
Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)
Viet Nam
West and Central Africa
Yemen
Zambia
Zimbabwe