Access barriers to health and social services in Cambodia: experiences in healthcare use of people with disabilities

Health inequalities exist all over the world. They contradict accepted values of human rights, since health is a precondition to participate in everyday life and in social, political and economic activities. South East Asian countries have developed rapidly in economic but also in social and political terms. Despite good economic development and improved living conditions overall, access to health services is neglected and inequalities are exacerbated, especially for deprived groups. This article analyses barriers to public healthcare for poor people with disabilities in Cambodia. Our qualitative study uses expert interviews and focus groups conducted with low-income Cambodian households. Consistent with existing literature, we find various shortcomings in providing access to healthcare for persons with disabilities. Difficulties are mainly related to barriers regarding financial resources, geography, quality of care, poor knowledge about social rights, and negative social and cultural beliefs. Our research additionally demonstrates that the governmental-run institutional tool for identifying the poorest households (IDPoor) is still insufficient for exclusively targeting social protection programmes, including access to healthcare, mainly because disability is not taken into consideration as a financial risk for falling into poverty.