BANGKOK, Sep 23 - Her Royal Highness Princess Sirindhorn of Thailand will provide a second round of health care assistance to Cambodia for another five years from 2012-2016, covering a wider area in the neighbouring country, it was announced today.

The areas targeted for assistance from the princess included all villages in Ratanakiri province's Ou Chum district, Mondol Kiri province's Pechr Chenda District and Koh Kong province.

Public Health Minister Wittaya Buranasiri said the first round of the assistance, aimed at protecting against malaria, a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans, and acute febrile illness for residents along the Cambodian-Vietnamese border, will end Sept 30.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen asked for the Thai princess’ royal assistance for another five years, Mr Wittaya said, after welcoming his Cambodian counterpart Mam Bunheng and his party to the Thai capital regarding cooperation in the matter.

The future aid will cover development of an immediate patient transfer system, with Thailand supporting academic work, diagnosis training, along with disease control and prevention.

For the first round of health care aid, Thailand's Public Health's Communicable Disease Control Department academically supported Cambodia's Public Health by sending experts on malaria and entomology to train personnel there on diseases at Ratanakiri province's Ou Chum District and Mondol Kiri Province's Pechr Chenda District.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) statistics, malaria in Cambodia in 2009 affected 64,595 patients, 17,442 of whom were infected with the most resistant strains, with the problem of drug-resistance growing at 7-10 per cent.

Concerning malaria in Thailand, 20,786 patients, 60 per cent of whom were foreigners living along the Thai-Myanmar border, were diagnosed with malaria from Jan-Sept 10 in Thailand, Mr Wittaya said.

The highest incidence of Malaria was found in three provinces along along the Myanmar border in the northern province of Tak, followed by Kanchanaburi in the west, and Mae Hong Son in the north, and then along the Cambodian border at Si Sa Ket in the northeast, and Chanthaburi in the eastern part of the country. (MCOT online news)