Cambodia's HIV success: How leadership, partnership and communities turned ambition into action

Shobha Shukla *

Cambodia's recent achievement of achieving the 95-95-95 HIV-related targets demonstrates what determined national leadership and community partnership can accomplish, said Eamonn Murphy, UNAIDS Regional Director for Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Cambodia is the first and only country in Asia Pacific region so far to do so.

These targets refer to 95 percent of people know their HIV status, 95 percent of them are on lifesaving antiretroviral treatment, and 95 percent of those on treatment have undetectable viral load. Undetectable viral load is vital because undetectable equals untransmittable, as there is zero risk of any further HIV transmission and person stays healthy and lead normal lives.

UNAIDS latest report 2026 released two weeks ago states that by 2025, there were 14 countries worldwide that had achieved 95-95-95 HIV goals: Botswana, Cambodia, Denmark, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

UNAIDS' Eamonn Murphy added that these experiences show that sustainable progress depends on genuine partnerships between governments, health systems and communities. These success stories also illustrate that investing in communities is not simply socially just - it is also good public health.

95-100-98 in Cambodia

Over 95 percent of people with HIV know their status in Cambodia, 100 percent of them are receiving lifesaving antiretroviral therapy, and 98% of those on therapy have achieved undetectable viral load, said Cambodian government's head of HIV programme Dr Ouk Vichea. Dr Vichea serves as Director of the National Centre for HIV/AIDS, Dermatology and STI (NCHADS) at Cambodia’s Ministry of Health. "Cambodia’s progress in the HIV response offers a clear lesson: ambitious public-health targets can be reached when political leadership, evidence-based action and communities work together."

Dr Ouk stressed that the achievement is not simply a technical success. It reflects strong leadership and commitment, combined with the ability to turn evidence and innovation into action.

Choub Sok Chamreun, Executive Director of KHANA Cambodia, similarly attributed the country's HIV achievement to a strong partnership that has existed from the beginning of the response. "The success of Cambodia is because of very strong partnership from the beginning," he said, describing how government, civil society, communities and people living with HIV worked together to shape and deliver the response.

Political leadership turned commitment into action

Dr Ouk said Cambodia’s progress has been rooted in sustained political commitment. For decades, leadership through the Royal Government of Cambodia, the Cambodia National Authority and the Ministry of Health has helped keep HIV firmly on the national agenda.

That commitment, he explained, went beyond declarations. It produced clear policies, coordinated multisectoral action and engagement with development partners, including UNAIDS, the World Health Organization (WHO), the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and Malaria (The Global Fund), and others.

For Chamreun, government leadership was equally important. From the beginning, the government took full leadership and brought stakeholders together to determine what needed to be done and how challenges should be addressed.

This approach created space for key populations and people living with HIV to participate in the response - not simply as people being consulted, but as participants in service delivery and monitoring.

Communities move from consultation to leadership

Chamreun argued that high-impact HIV and TB interventions require investment in communities. Consultation alone is not enough, he said. Key populations must be involved in planning and implementation and must be "in the forefront" of programming.

In Cambodia, people living with HIV and key populations have been closely involved in delivering services. This includes gay men and other men who have sex with men, transgender people, people who use and inject drugs, and female entertainment workers.

Community involvement also helps identify gaps in service quality. People with lived experience of HIV and the needs of their communities can work alongside health professionals to observe, monitor and improve services.

For Chamreun, this is particularly important in places and situations where government services may struggle to reach people.

Community workers can operate in remote areas, at night and during weekends, while also reaching people who may remain hidden because of stigma and discrimination.

A network of frontline workers

The scale of community participation is reflected in the numbers Chamreun cited from KHANA Cambodia’s programmes.

The HIV response includes 153 outreach workers in one programme, 49 outreach workers serving female entertainment workers, and another 153 outreach workers reaching gay men and other men who have sex with men and transgender populations. The TB response includes 309 volunteers engaged in service delivery.

These networks illustrate the practical meaning of a community-led response. Rather than treating communities as recipients of services, the model places them directly within the delivery system.

Chamreun said people living with HIV and members of key populations understand the problems and needs of their communities because they have direct experience of them. That lived knowledge can make them valuable partners for government, particularly in places where official services cannot easily reach.

Innovation and data strengthen the response

Political commitment and community leadership have been reinforced by innovation and the use of data.

Dr Ouk described Cambodia’s approach of making HIV combination prevention strategies rather than relying on a single intervention. The country has expanded differentiated HIV testing, Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV prevention and other new HIV prevention tools, while also integrating services to help close prevention gaps, particularly among key populations.

Data has also become central to decision-making.

Cambodia uses what Dr Ouk described as a “triangle” of routine program data, integrated biological and behavioural surveillance (IBBS) and community monitoring data. The aim is to identify gaps and adjust the response so that programmes remain targeted and responsive.

The emphasis is therefore not only on making services available, but on making them accessible, acceptable and trusted.

Progress has not eliminated the gaps

Dr Ouk pointed to a continuing gap between what is known and what is being done. New HIV infections remain concentrated among key populations, while structural barriers - including stigma, discrimination and social inequality - continue to restrict access to services for people most at risk.

That means Cambodia must build on the factors that produced its progress rather than treating the 95-95-95 achievement as an endpoint.

For Chamreun, the same principle applies to HIV and TB more broadly. Government, civil society and communities need to continue working together, particularly when resources are limited.

Partnership matters even when funding is difficult

As funding conditions become more challenging, it becomes even more important to sustain health responses. Partnerships become even more critical when funding plummets, says Chamreun. Dividing efforts can increase costs, while collaboration allows organisations and institutions to share expertise and resources to support lifesaving community work.

Dr Ouk likewise called for sustained political leadership in the context of declining external funding, alongside greater domestic financing, particularly for prevention and community responses.

He also stressed the need to scale up innovation and ensure that new approaches reach the people who need them most.

The message is straightforward: financial constraints make collaboration more - not less - important.

Cambodia enters a new phase

Dr Ouk described Cambodia as entering a new phase focused on greater country ownership and sustainability. The achievement of the 95-95-95 target, he emphasised, is a milestone rather than an endpoint. The challenge now is to sustain the gains, deepen the response and make it more equitable. That will require continued political commitment, domestic investment, innovation and community leadership.

Chamreun’s message is similarly forward-looking. The response must continue to recognise the people living with HIV and the communities most affected as central partners in solving the problems. Their experience, he argued, provides insight into what communities need and where existing services fall short.

A lesson in turning possibility into action

Cambodia’s HIV achievement therefore stands not simply as a numerical milestone, but as an example of what sustained collaboration can accomplish.

Dr Ouk and Chamreun both state this from different perspectives: leadership creates the direction, partnership connects the system, innovation strengthens it, and communities make services reach the people who need them.

Dr Ouk summarised Cambodia’s experience as proof that the gap between knowing-what-works and actually putting it into practice can be bridged.

For Chamreun, the lesson is even more direct: when government, civil society, communities and people with lived experiences work together, what appears impossible can become possible.