High maternal and infant mortality in Cambodia are caused by high fertility and poor availability of and access to health care services. Infant and child mortality rates in Cambodia were estimated at 115 and 181per 1,000 live births respectively. The crude birth rate was estimated at 43 per 1,000 and maternal mortality ratio at 473 per 100,000 live births around 1995. The median birth interval for non-first births in Cambodia is 34 months. This means that fifty percent of the births in Cambodia occur within less than three years of the previous birth. These indicate an urgent need for birth spacing services in Cambodia, as longer birth intervals would contribute to better health of mothers and children.


Family planning activities of international organizations and NGOs in Cambodia consist of providing birth spacing social marketing programs in Cambodia, strengthening or reintroducing health care facilities in remote provinces, providing important technical assistance for the development and implementation of an informed consent policy for surgical contraception, and improving quality of care for childhood illnesses