City project

Health System Coordination and Management

Strengthening Health System Coordination, Referral Pathways, and Strategic Planning for Cancer Care in Phnom Penh.

City

Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Project lead

Heng Viroath

Areas of action

Implementation

Cycle I

The challenge

Cambodia faces a growing cancer burden while the health system capacity for early diagnosis, referral, and coordinated care remains limited.
Referral pathways for cancer patients are inconsistently applied across public and private hospitals, leading to fragmentation and delays in care.
Weak coordination between levels of care and limited patient information systems hinders continuity and quality of cancer services.
Primary healthcare providers often lack training to recognise early signs and symptoms of cancer and to initiate timely referrals.
While national strategies exist, including cervical cancer and NCD action plans, implementation at the city and facility level remains uneven.
Phnom Penh has an opportunity to align health system strengthening efforts with global frameworks such as the WHO Global Breast Cancer Initiative (GBCI), particularly to address late diagnosis and gaps in breast cancer care.

The goal

To improve cancer care services in Phnom Penh through strengthening health system coordination and management to ensure continuity of care for cancer patients.

The How

Supporting the development and validation of Cambodia’s National Cancer Control Plan (NCCP) 2025–2030.
Harmonising and strengthening formal patient referral pathways across public and private hospitals.
Defining a minimum, standardised set of patient information to support referral, follow-up, and continuity of care.
Building capacity of primary healthcare providers to recognise early cancer signs, conduct initial clinical assessments, and refer patients appropriately.
Developing a resource-appropriate city action plan to implement the WHO Global Breast Cancer Initiative (GBCI), aligned with national priorities and global standards.
Combining facility-led actions with the Ministry of Health–led policy measures to support scalable, sustainable improvements in cancer care delivery.

Outputs

Technical cooperation support in the development of NCCP 2025-2030.
Review the existing formal patient referral template(s) and develop a minimal set of information for referral of patients across all hospitals.
Review and implement an e-learning course on oncology in primary health care.
Workshop on “How to implement the GBCI in practice” resulting in an action plan for implementation of GBCI Framework in Phnom Penh.

Team

Project Lead

Heng Viroath, Medical Oncologist, Head of Oncology Department, Khmer Soviet Friendship Hospital.

Project Team

Heng Viroath, Medical Oncologist, Head of Oncology Department, Khmer-Soviet Friendship Hospital
Mel Mora, Radiation Oncologist, Calmette Hospital.
Phy Maly, Deputy of the Preventive Medicine Department, Ministry of Health.
Rith Sophearin, Radiation Oncologist, Khmer-Soviet Friendship Hospital
Ung Nearot, Medical Oncologist, Calmette Hospital
Meng Lang, Palliative Care Specialist, Calmette Hospital
Chhuon Chansophanan, Administrator, Japan Heart Asia Children's Medical Center
Heng Viroath, Medical Oncologist, Head of Oncology Department, Khmer-Soviet Friendship Hospital
Maiko Kojiro, Head of Japan Heart Asia Children's Medical Center
Phearavin Pheng, Assistant Professor of Public Health, University of Health Science
Hoy Chhunly, Medical Oncologist, Luang Mé Hospital
Han Ketyaneth, Radiation Oncologist, Calmette Hospital