Clinton Presidential Center "Clinton Holds Up Cambodia's AIDS Effort as Model"

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton praised Cambodia on Monday for its success in fighting HIV/AIDS, saying other countries should take note of its twin strategy of public education and widespread condom promotion.

"There is a hope that Cambodia can be a model for the rest of Asia and perhaps for the rest of the world,'' Clinton said after a signing ceremony on behalf of his Clinton Foundation with Prime Minister Hun Sen.

The impoverished southeast Asian nation has one of the highest HIV/AIDS rates in the region, although infection levels among the adult population dropped to 1.9 percent in 2004 from 3.3 percent in 1998.

"For the last several years you have made progress over reducing the infection rate here as it has gone up in most the rest of the world," Clinton said.

"And yet we know it is still a significant challenge that requires us to do more to provide that treatment for those in need, for children and adults," he said.

It is not known how much HIV/AIDS assistance the Clinton Foundation is giving Cambodia, although Minister of Health Nuth Sokhom said it included testing equipment for at least four laboratories.

Clinton also visited an AIDS orphanage in the capital, Phnom Penh, run by the Mary Knoll Roman Catholic missionary organization as part of his campaign to reduce discrimination against sufferers.

Hun Sen said he hoped Clinton's visit would serve to reinforce the HIV/AIDS message to Cambodia's 13 million people, the target of several years of government- and donor-funded safe-sex campaigns.

According to the National AIDS authority, more than 2 million condoms are sold each year.

"Your presence here sends a big message to Cambodian youngsters about preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS as well as stopping discrimination against those living with the disease," Hun Sen said.