One area of society in Cambodia that still has problems with gender equality is their healthcare. There are many inequalities associated with the healthcare there, regarding access to it, and treatment within it. First off, as babies, there is a tendency for boys to be breastfed more and longer than girls. Since girls are deprived of the nutrition that comes form being breastfed, they in turn have more health problems and become malnourished, which leads to more problems later in life. There is also inequality when it comes to disabilities. Disabled women are a lot more poorly treated than disabled men. It is said in Cambodia that "disabled women are the poorest of the poorest of the poor." Their chances of getting married are very slim, and if they do get married, often they are abandoned by their husbands. They have less opportunity to go to school and get an education, and they don't have the same privileges for health care and employment as disabled men do. And last but not least, their is inequality between men and women when it comes to the treatment of HIV/AIDS. The percentage of females living with HIV/AIDS in Cambodia has gone up, and not much is being done about it. Women with HIV/AIDS are discriminated by society, and they do not even have the opportunity to protect themselves from the disease. Also because of the lack of female doctors and nurses, women are embarrassed to bring it up in front of male doctors so they don't get the treatment that they need.
The cause of this comes down to the lack of respect that they have for women. They don't respect women because they don't realize how important they are and just how much women have to offer to society. They don't think that women can be smart, or have special skills to offer in the workforce. The government and the men there in Cambodia only see women good for the duties that they accomplish in the home, such as laundry, cooking and cleaning. The men think that they can handle everything on their own, and because of this mindset they don't have any respect for women, and they don't find it necessary to use such limited resources such as healthcare in order to keep them healthy.
One solution to the problem would be to send educated women over there and start a program to help the women in need. They can teach the women different skills. We need to lift the level of awareness among women so that they are no longer part of the problem, but part of the solution. Women need to be empowered in order for the country to progress because no country can progress without half of it's people. If women become more educated, they will become of more worth and the men will see how much they have to offer and will begin to utilize them and treat them as equals.
Infant Mortality:
A major problem in Cambodia that stills exists is the infant mortality rate. In Cambodia, 1 in 8 children die before their fifth birthday, that is about 141 per 1,000 live births. These children are hardly even getting a chance at life. Many of those that survive past that age are usually unable to grow and develop to their full potential.
The main cause of such a high infant mortality rate is actually preventable . It is sad that this unfortunate fate is preventable, but it is not being prevented! This cause is vaccine-preventable diseases such as polio, diptheria, whooping cough, tetanus, measles and tuberculosis. Kids in rural areas that are born into impoverished families do not have the privilege and the opportunity to get vaccinated and receive the immunizations they need in order to prevent these diseases. Therefore, they contract them at a very young age and for the same reasons that they can't get vaccinated, they cannot be treated for the diseases. Either there is no medical treatment available to them because of the area that they live in, or even if it is available they are too poor to take advantage of it. And because of this, the children die.
One way to combat the effects of high infant mortality rates would be to increase vaccination campaigns. I think a big problem is simply the fact that these people are not aware of the solutions that are available. They do not realize that these vaccinations can save their child's lives and prevent so much suffering and and heartache. If we increase the amount of vaccination campaigning that we do and help the people to realize the options and the opportunities they have to protect their children, and help them see the importance of preventing these diseases instead of waiting to treat them once they are already present, then we will increase the desire for vaccinations. They will begin to make it a priority in their communities and in their society, therefore reducing the infant mortality rate.