DAP: The breaking news in Cambodia: “3 Cambodian children killed as boat capsizes due to storm” plus 3 more

PHNOM PENH, July 25 (Xinhua) -- Three Cambodian children aged between 3 and 5 were killed when their parents' boat capsized due to strong wind, a senior provincial official confirmed Wednesday.

The accident occurred on Tuesday afternoon on the Tonle Sap Lake in Bakan district of Pursat province, some 170 kilometers west of Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia.

"The 3 kids followed their parents to fish on Tonle Sap Lake," Pursat Governor Khoy Sokha told Xinhua, adding that there were 7 people in the boat at that time. The 4 adults were timely rescued.

Cambodia has been suffering from the impact of tropical storm Vicente. The Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology appealed to fishermen and locals along Mekong River to be vigilant.

PHNOM PENH, July 25 (Xinhua) -- Some 35,710 malaria cases had been reported in the first six months of this year, a 23 percent decrease compared with 46,360 cases at the same period last year, a report of the National Center for Parasitology, Entomology and Malaria Control showed Wednesday.

The report said that the death toll from the disease during the January-June period this year was 28 people, 10 percent drop from 31 deaths at the same period last year.

Char Meng Chuor, head of the center, said that the decrease was thanks to awareness campaigns and mosquito net distribution to the disease-prone groups of people.

Some 1.3 million mosquito nets have been distributing to vulnerable people in the third quarter (July-September) this year, he said.

Meanwhile, he explained that the death cases were due to the patients had sought private treatment and the disease could not be cured; instead, it got more serious. Finally, they were too late to be cured when they were admitted to state-owned health centers.

Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease. In Cambodia, the disease is often found in rainy season and mostly happens in border provinces, and forest and mountainous provinces.

The country sets its goal to completely eradicate the disease by 2025. To achieve this, it needs 20 million U.S. dollars a year.

In 2011, the country reported 62,690 cases of malaria, killing 98 people.

PHNOM PENH, July 24 (Xinhua) -- Three more Cambodian children were tested positive for Enterovirus 71 (EV-71) over the weekend and two of them were killed by the disease, bringing the death toll to 56 since April, a senior health official said Tuesday.

Ly Sovann, deputy director of the Health Ministry's communicable disease control department, told Xinhua that the two dead children were in Kampong Cham province, some 124 km east of Phnom Penh, and the other one is recovering from the disease at the Kantha Bopha Children's Hospital in Siem Reap province.

Cambodia has been plagued by EV-71, which causes hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) since April. The severe form of HFMD has killed at least 56 Cambodian children so far.

The Ministry of Education last week ordered the close of all kindergartens and primary schools across the country, two weeks earlier than the scheduled annual vacation, in fears of the disease.

HFMD virus is contagious and infection spreads from person to person by direct contact with nose or throat discharges, saliva, fluid from blisters or the stool of infected persons, according to the World Health Organization.

Good hygiene practice can prevent HFMD. Presently, there is no specific treatment available for HFMD, it said. Parents should seek medical advice if their children develop high fever, vomiting, lethargy and limb weakness.