Aid Workers Seek New Fight Against Old Enemy in Pailin
By Mhari Saito
the cambodia daily
pailin - Health workers came to this new municipality in 
northwestern Cambodia last week to assess the logistical 
possibility of distributing nets and medicine to an area famous for 
land mines, former Khmer Rouge bandits and some of the worldıs 
most drug-resistant strains of malaria.
	The mission, which included officials from a World Bank-
funded project for the National Malaria Center, still has not been 
approved. If given the go-ahead, it could be among the first 
international projects in the former Khmer Rouge-controlled 
territory. 
	In a meeting in city hall with health officials, Pailin officials 
expressed initial interest in the malaria program, saying both of the 
municipalityıs districts and its people need nets and medicine.
	³If the government of Pailin welcomes our project, we would 
be happy to go,² said Dr Jan Rozendaal of the European Commission 
Malarial Control Program in Cambodia.
	If the project is approved, project work in Pailin could begin 
as soon as April. 
	The EC will provide $4.5 million for projects nationwide, 
possibly including Pailin over the next four years. The World Bank 
has promised $2.7 million for malaria education in Cambodia over 
the next five years.
	Medecins Sans Frontieres France and Catholic Relief Services 
also are investigating the possibility of working in Pailin.
	The Cambodian government also has promised to help. Last 
week, First Prime Minister Ung Huot promised former Khmer Rouge 
leader Ieng Sary to help fight malaria in the city. Last Monday, Ung 
Huot also promised $50,000 in government aid to Pailinıs now-
unused hospital.
	³We have to declare war to fight the mosquito now rather than 
killing the people,² Ung Huot said.
	Staff members at the National Malaria Center and the EC said 
they have not yet been contacted by the first prime ministerıs 
office. 
	Malaria along the Thai border is infamous for its resistance to 
drugs. But because of factional fighting and financial constraints, no 
one can provide an accurate statistical picture of malaria and 
exactly how drug-resistant the disease has become. 
	The condition could be serious: Recorded malaria cases in 
nearby Battambang province last year doubled from 1996. Increased 
movement of people displaced by fighting and mass defection of 
Khmer Rouge troops could be possible factors. Dr Duong Socheat, vice 
director of the National Malaria Center said improved techniques to 
detect malaria also might have contributed to higher statistics.
	EC officials say they have invited Pailin health 
representatives to attend a national malaria conference in Phnom 
Penh next week.