The WHO and UNITAID, have paired with the CHC in the battle to fight against MDR TB (Multi Drug Resistant TB), a potentially lethal form of TB which does not respond to standard treatment. The WHO GLC (Green Light Committee) approved CHC's application on behalf of Cambodia to receive low cost drugs to treat the hundreds of patients that are suffering from this potentially lethal disease.

The CHC is at the forefront of TB patient care in Cambodia and has been pioneering clinical and community-based approaches to combating the disease since 1994 while scaling up these approaches to the national level and treating over 13,000 people. At the request of the Cambodian NTP (National Tuberculosis Program), the CHC is providing technical expertise to the NTP in the development of the countrywide MDR management plan. This involves clinical management of patients with MDR as well as patients who are co-infected with the AIDS virus.  It also includes MDR infection control, training of physicians, nurses and community health workers in MDR diagnosis, treatment and prevention.  A major goal of CHC's efforts will be to pioneer a new community-based approach to diagnose, treat and prevent spread of MDR TB based on CHC's successful approaches to TB and AIDS, which can be applied to other impoverished countries in Asia and Africa.  An equally important goal is to build the capacity of the Cambodian National TB Program (NTP), to lead this activity independently in the future.

"In Cambodia it is estimated that there are currently 100 suspected cases of MDR-TB" says Dr. Sok Thim, CHC's Research Director, who has extensive experience in treating and managing MDR-TB cases from the Thai-Cambodian border in the 1980s to the present. "We imagine however that the actual number of cases in the country may be threefold higher.  We aim to provide universal access in Cambodia for MDR TB.  The CHC's experience in treating MDR TB at the level of the community and in Centers of Excellence for TB and HIV care can provide a powerful new international model",  he says.

By building a strong partnership with governmental organizations, people working at the grass roots, WHO, and UNITAID, and harnessing CHC's experience, Dr. Sok Thim notes that "The CHC aims to provide universal access in Cambodia for MDR TB.  The CHC's experience in treating MDR TB at the level of the community and in Centers of Excellence for TB and HIV care can provide a powerful new international model".