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(16).  Mental Health

There are no references to “mental health,” nor are there any references to “stress” in the main text of the NPRS. As mentioned elsewhere, there are multiple references to “domestic violence” with regard to women, but no indication of any possible associated stress-related disorders or mental health implications. 

In the Annex 3 Matrix, Section 3.1.1. under Better Health, (4), the NPRS refers to a strategic objective “Improve community-based health care (both physical and mental health issues).  The actionable measure refers to “basic health education, including mental health activities.” The Ministry of Rural Development is indicated as the institutional focal point for the RCG.

Drug abuse is mentioned in the context of corruption, as well as Gender Disparities (parents not sending children to school as they are sites for drug abuse, and women’s concerns about the use of drugs (yama) by children. Drug use is also mention in the section concerning Street Children in terms of abandoned children being subject drug abuse social (among other problems). The section on Social Protection refers to increasing drug use as a contributing factor to domestic violence. However, none of these references specifically link drug use or abuse to mental health.

It should be noted that the section on Nutrition concerning various nutrient deficiencies refers to losses of intellectual capacity and potential, which may be considered a component of mental health, though there is no specific reference to ‘mental health” in the sense apparently intended on the NGO CG Statement. 

NGO Action:

According to the NGO CG Statement, “As a country with a history of genocide, prolonged armed conflict and years of dislocation and insecurity, Cambodia has a population with a legacy of serious social and mental problems that have a debilitating impact on its reconstruction and development.”

• Continue raising the issue of mental health and its relationship to poverty reduction in the context of the APRI process, including the concept of primary mental health, and the integration of mental health components in other development activities (e.g., CD, human rights, HIV/AIDS, disabilities/landmine action, education and health programs);
• Raise the issue in the APRI process that problems of children mental health require specific attention, especially as the NPRS identifies children of the poor as one of the more vulnerable groups (e.g., drugs);
• Participate in and monitor the development of the National Mental Health Plan, including references to the concept and practices of primary mental health;
• More research considering the mental health impact of armed conflict and genocide on a pollution, or widespread poverty for that matter, is required in order to make stronger linkages with poverty reduction.

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