WHO称柬埔寨缺少心理服务（在线收听）

WHO称柬埔寨缺少心理服务

PHNOM PENH— Cambodia has some of the world’s worst mental health statistics – largely due to the effects of Pol Pot’s murderous Khmer Rouge regime. Yet mental health services remain underfunded and – in the words of the World Health Organization – “critically neglected." There’s little sign of that changing in the near future, in part because few Cambodian students are interested in psychiatry as a career.

The psychiatric clinic at the government’s Khmer-Soviet Hospital in Phnom Penh is one of Cambodia’s busiest.

金边的国有高棉-苏联医院里心理诊所是柬埔寨最繁忙的心理诊所之一。

Fifteen years ago, said clinic director Yem Sobotra, it saw between 70 and 150 patients a day. When VOA visited in April, the daily average was 400.

诊所主任Yem Sobotra说，15年前，这里每天只有70到150个患者，当四月份美国之音采访时，这里每天平均有400名患者。

With few mental health services in rural areas, where most Cambodians live, patients have to come to centers like this for treatment.

大多数柬埔寨人都生活在农村地区，但那里的心理健康服务很少，患者只得来到此类诊所进行治疗。

But with just 10 psychiatrists and as many nurses, most get just a few minutes before leaving with a bottle of pills.

但这里只有10名精神病医生和差不多这么多的护士，大多数患者只能得到几分钟的咨询，然后带着一瓶药离开。

Dr. Yem Sobotra said they could do better with more resources.

Yem Sobotra博士说如果有更多资源，他们可以做得更好。

“So we have not much time to give good service for them – especially for psychotherapy. We just only offer some short term counseling, short term psychotherapy for the patient. That is my idea – not enough for service, not enough for human resources,” he said.

“我们没有太多时间来给他们提供好的服务，尤其是心理治疗方面，我们只能提供短时间的咨询，为患者提供短期的心理治疗。我的看法是，这里没有足够的服务和人力资源。”

The challenges do not end there: Cambodia lacks the advanced drugs used in neighboring Vietnam and Thailand – a particular problem when prescribing for patients with heart conditions.

这里的遇到的问题还不仅如此，柬埔寨缺少邻国越南和泰国所使用的先进药物，尤其是在给心脏病患者开药时这个问题更突出。

It also needs more psychiatrists – yet few youngsters seem interested.

同时还需要更多精神病医生，但很少有年轻人对此感兴趣。

Nationwide just six students are taking the three-year course. Experts blame low salaries and the challenges of studying psychiatry.

全国只有6名学生参加了为期三年的课程，专家将之归咎于低工资和学习心理学遇到的挑战。

TPO-Cambodia is a respected mental health non-profit.

TPO-Cambodia是一家受人尊敬的心理健康非盈利组织。

Dr. Chhim Sotheara, who heads TPO, said Cambodia had many needs, few resources – particularly in rural areas – and a government that was not doing enough.

该组织负责人Chhim Sotheara博士说柬埔寨有很多需求，缺少资源，尤其是在农村地区，但政府在此方面做得不够。

A skills-transfer program would help, he said.

他说一个技术转移项目就能提供帮助。

“We don’t have anyone enrolling in the psychiatry training program, so that’s not going to happen. So I think the transferring skills from the specialist psychiatrist to GP, GP to nurse, to village health support groups, traditional healers, the monks, the nuns – and all this would be good,” he said.

“我们这个精神病学培训项目没有招到任何人，所以就不可能实现。所以我认为将技术从专业的心理医生那里转移到普通开业医生，从普通开业医生转移到护士，然后转移到乡村医疗支持组织，提供传统疗法者，以及僧侣尼姑那里，这样就会很好。”

At the government’s newly formed Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse, Deputy Director Dr. Muny Sothara said matters have improved in recent years, but acknowledged more was needed.

在政府新成立的心理健康和药物滥用部，副主任Muny Sothara博士说，最近几年情况已经有所改善，但他承认还需要做很多工作。

“For the coming future we need to improve the quality of the existing trained staff instead, and also additional mobilize new general practitioners and nurses in order to operate more mental health units in other sectors down,” he said.

“未来我们需要提高现有接受过培训员工的质量，同时动员新的普通医师和护士，从而在其他领域开设更多的心理健康诊所。”

Yet despite repeated requests, officials were unable to tell VOA how many doctors and nurses it has trained in mental health basics.

然而尽管得到多次请求，官方仍无法告诉美国之音究竟在心理健康基本知识方面培训过多少医生和护士。

And with limited funds allocated – perhaps $1 million a year – it is unlikely that those in need of better mental health services will see improvements soon.

由于分配到的资金有限，每年可能只有100万美元，所以那些需要更好心理健康服务的患者不太可能很快看到情况有所改观。