WHAT WE DO
Cambodia
Switzerland
Phnom Penh
Siem Reap
Vietnam
Laos
Thailand
Gulf of Thailand
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The Swiss doctor Dr. Beat Richner opened five children's hospitals with a total of 2300 beds in the two Cambodian centres of Phnom Penh and Siem Reap since 1992. Today, 85 percent of all ill children in the country are treated and cared for here. Most of the hospitalised girls and boys would have no chance of survival without these hospitals.
All treatments and medical interventions are free of charge for the children, because about three quarters of the local people have hardly any financial means - they simply could not pay the treatment costs incurred.
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Kantha Bopha is an incomparable success story. Since its start in 1992, around 22 million ill children have been treated as outpatients. 2.7 million young patients were so seriously ill that they had to be hospitalized.
The hospitals
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The hospitals Kantha Bopha I, IV and V in Phnom Penh have space for a total of 800 inpatients, Kantha Bopha II for 185. 870 children can be admitted in Siem Reap, and an additional 180 women in the maternity unit. All five hospitals thus have more than 2000 inpatient places available.
Phnom Penh
Kantha Bopha I
Kantha Bopha V
Kantha Bopha IV
Kantha Bopha I
Opened in 1992, renovated and extended with a museum in 2015, inauguration of the replacement building in 2019
Kantha Bopha II
Opened in 1996, on the ground of the Royal Palace
Kantha Bopha IV
Opened in 2005
Kantha Bopha V
Opened in 2007
Siem Reap
Jayavarman VII
Jayavarman VII
Opened in 1999, 2001 maternity inaugurated, 2008 new extension, 2024 extension of the maternity
Did you know that …
… the costs of running the five hospitals in Cambodia amount to at least CHF 40 million per year. The funds come from various sources, from private individuals and institutions, from the Cambodian government and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). But above all, it is small and large donors from Switzerland who have supported the work financially for over 30 years. It is also encouraging to see the development of donations from Cambodian private individuals – they are steadily increasing.
… the Kantha Bopha hospitals have the best cost/healing rate worldwide and are considered a model for medicine in poor countries. Because the reliable basic medical care creates security – the mothers know that their sick children will be treated free of charge in the Kantha Bopha hospitals. This eliminates the pressure to give birth to many offspring so that at least every second child survives. This socio-social type of family planning has an effect: There are hardly any mothers at the maternity clinic who have more than three children nowadays.
… the little patients are never alone. A family member – usually the mother – accompanies the child, gives information about its condition, calms it, dries tears, supports it. In addition, the relatives take care of the food: There is no organised catering like in our country, but there are numerous market stalls and food vendors in the immediate vicinity of the hospitals.
… all 2,600 employees of Kantha Bopha hospitals are locals and receive a fair wage on which they can live. This is the key to preventing corruption – there is zero tolerance in this field. No bribes are accepted or even demanded from patients' relatives, medication dispensing is controlled and no employee is allowed to take a second job anywhere. These principles are regularly reviewed by the auditors. Medical care is the same for all children: free of charge and correct. Therefore, our hospitals serve as role models in one of the poorest countries in Asia. Or as founder Dr. Beat Richner always emphasised: «Kantha Bopha is free of corruption, an island of justice and social peace in Cambodia.»
… the infant mortality in Cambodia has substantially declined. In 1992, it was over 8 percent, in 2009 it dropped to 4.8 percent – and in 2020 it will be 2.6 percent. Most children in the Kantha Bopha hospitals die due to a congenital heart malformation; overall, the mortality rate here is 0.3 percent of hospitalized babies, girls and boys. Our good medical care has contributed significantly to the steady reduction in infant mortality. And also the fact that today many births take place in the maternity clinic of Kantha Bopha – under hygienically and medically optimal conditions.
… around 3,000 sick girls and boys arrive at the five hospitals every day. About every sixth child has to be admitted as an inpatient.
… Kantha Bopha has been a department of the Ministry of Health since 1994 – and today also a training centre für for medical, nursing and therapeutic professions. The facilities are fully integrated into the country's health system, serve as university hospitals, and the director and doctors of our hospitals serve as full professors at the medical faculty in Phnom Penh. In close cooperation with the Children's Hospital Zurich, training and further education continually take place; it is an active and very valuable exchange.
