A two-day seminar of Cambodia- China Antimalaria Collaboration Project opened here on Tuesday, aimed at deliberating and discussing the final results from the three years Cambodia-China cooperation on anti-malaria.

"We began to field test the experience with the new anti- malarial: ARTEQUICK in Kampong Speu province with the collaboration of the highly reputed Guangzhou University of Traditional Chinese Medicine since 2004," said Doung Socheat, director of National Center for Parasitology, Entomology and Malaria Control.

Kampong Speu province is the malaria endemic area of the country. "The potential use of this new ACTs (artemisinin-based combination therapy) is seem promising in the three years field trial in Kampong Speu province," he said.

Kampong Speu Governor Kang Heang said according to the provincial health information unit of Kampong Speu as well as the report made by Chinese Professor Li (Guoqiao) indicated that the incident rate of malaria case among general children have been decreased dramatically from 36.19 percent to 0.13 percent.

"This figure is shown that the great success that never seen in Cambodia before. Furthermore, the mortality rate in the hospital has been drop down in the first six months of this year. There was only one case of death recorded," he added.

More than 60 health officials, experts and professors from China, Cambodia and other countries and institutions attended the seminar.

Source: Xinhua