Friends Help Friends Center

SEPTEMBER 2003 — On August 23 the district governor in Battambang Province, Cambodia, opened the first Mondol Mith Chouy Mith (MMM), or Friends Help Friends, center in the province at the Moung Russey Operational District and Referral Hospital. The provincial health director, provincial AIDS office staff, the director and staff of NCHADS, representatives of nongovernmental organizations, hospital staff and 37 PLHA, helped open the center.

Supported by USAID through FHI's IMPACT Project, this learning site of the Cambodia National Center for HIV/AIDS, Dermatology and STD Control (NCHADS) is implementing continuum of care activities for people living with HIV/AIDS.  MMM is one of the key components of the continuum of care, offering a place where PLHA meet together for a wide range of activities, facilitated and supported by a health care worker and aimed at strengthening the partnerships of PLHA and health care workers.

The  center's daytime activities include the HIV care and treatment clinic to screen and treat opportunistic infections including TB, provide health check-ups, and offer social activities for PLHAs and health staff.