Medication in Cambodia

Good morning everyone,

Whether it's a simple cold or a chronic illness, medication and medicine use vary from country to country and culture to culture.

When you are used to certain brands or types of drugs, being in a country like Cambodia with different rules can affect your daily well-being.

Some drugs also differ in name, price, dosage, active molecule, so we would like to hear your opinion on these issues:

Have you ever had difficulties finding familiar or useful medicines for your health in your host country?

Have you ever been faced with a shortage of medicines in Cambodia?

Would you have said that in Cambodia drugs are more or less expensive than in your home country? Do you find them more or less effective or of similar quality?

What is the place of alternative medicines in your host country? Have you ever used them?

Thank you in advance for your feedback,

Loïc

Almost all standard medications ( for high blood pressure, statins, anti-inflammatories, Xanax, Viagra cough and cold medications, diabetes, anti-biotics etc. etc. )  are all available in Cambodia without prescription but one must be careful of copies. Get to know your Pharmacy. I know of good reliable ones in Kampot and Phnom Penh and have had no problem with them Temporary shortages can occur so best to keep 1 month spare in hand.

You do not nee to buy a whole box an it is typical for Pharmacies to sell 1 or 2 strips.

However. if you visit a Cambodian doctor they do tend to over-prescribe. Best to check online once you have the diagnosis or go to a reputable Hospital such as Sonya Kill in Kampot.

If you do have to be hospitalized they will provide the medications ( charged daily ) but be aware that some may require you to provide all meals and some nursing care.

It will soon be wet season again so do take some precautions against Malaria and Dengue fever.

So far, Covid 19 does not seem to be a big issue in Cambodia ( maybe because of high ambient daily temps ? ) but there is a potential outbreak in Siem Reap.

I am a schizophrenic and was on a antipsychotic called risperidone. There are a few names for it, resperidal and the like. I ended up on a generic brand called risperidone gpo from Thailand. It cost me around 22us dollars every thirty days. In my home country there was a pharmaceutical benefits scheme run by the government and it only cost me 6:60 per month. 
I was fortunate that risperidone is one of the older atypical antipsychotics and it was relatively cheap. Some of the newer ones can get really expensive and I'm not sure if the pharmacies would have been able to secure them. They generally wanted a 50 percent deposit on a ordered product. It could take anywhere from three days to two weeks to get your order but after a couple of months they ended up keeping it in stock. This was through UK pharmacy in Siem Reap .
Never had the urge to try anything else but if they had it in stock then you could purchase without a script. Dangerous for some people. I think at some smaller pharmacies you could barter for your product.
All in all I never had any issues but like in the first reply stay on top of things by a month and all is well. Peace

Pharmacy de la care in Phnom Penh , I'm a diabetic getting insulin, by the central market, same brand long expiration date, my scrip for 5 insulin pens called Lantis brand was 750$ at Walmart, same brand usually English and French writing Lantis 55$ for 5 insulin pens, so I don't go to pharmacy de la care , but that being said in Phnom Penh I know pharmacy de la care is the most reputable, by far, I imagine they are 10% higher no more , but  go there you will be happy .

I haven't had a issue with any of my drugs in Canbodia. What is an issue is the pharmacies in Cambodia will sell you anything many times giving you 3,4,5,6,pills at the same time. If you order sometime like it up on the net before you take it. Or know what u need before hand.
Beware the sellers.
Doctors here have second jobs as butchers.

Yes, I agree. Most of the Drs in Cambodia are doubtful. However, the Dentists I have  seen are very good and cost a faction of the price than those in Europe, US and even Thailand. I highly recommend the Roomchang dentists in Phnom Penh.

I would agree on dental work. Again e careful they are all different. I went to one to glue back a crown after 3 trys and 3 times  falling out again. I found one more that did it right. No more problems
Also let me point out many Doctors here n
Have lost their lincince to proactive in their home country. Never trust 1 always go to 1or 2 more.
Exaplample., I had a back problems after doing touch my toe exercise. I went to Cambodian hospital. After an MRI they said I had a broken back. I traveled back to the US to find out I didn't.

When I moved here about 6 years ago it was to be long term. I bought my medical records from Australia and have always used Mercy Clinic. They have their own small pharmacy and have everything I need for my diabetes and blood pressure. High quality medication is always available and far cheaper than Australia.

Royal hospital in Phnom Penh is as good as any hospital in USA, they are part of a large Thailand hospital group which is  always ranked in the top ten hospitals in the world my doctor here in Phnom Penh practiced for two years at john Hopkins , Royal is as good as it gets, it's twice as expensive but 10 times better care cat scans etc. if your sick go there , everyone including Khmer jo will tell you the same , those of us who have been here a while know only one real hospital in pp it's royal

Royal  Hospital is known to be by far the most expensive in Cambodia and I have heard mixed reports. Great if you have full medical insurance maybe. My mother had 4 hour hip surgery at 99 years old at Hope International Hospital in PP and the surgery was superb - but, as I said before, you must expect to provide all meals and help with the nursing. If I was seriously sick and was able to travel I would consider to fly to Bangkok where there is a wide selection of good hospitals to choose from.

Hi, I had a rather bad experience with Romchang. May be I am unlucky. Can u recommend a good dentist at RC? Thanks

I go with European dentistry

Cambodia in PP and SR have the best stocked pharmacies in the world, access to medications is the fastest in the world and all originals are available. My company is in the business of manufacturing and marketing our brands worldwide and that's how I see it in Cambodia,

No problem! And generally cheaper than US. Find a good pharmacy. I Know a couple in Siem Reap.  KAYA is one.

Warning I got quite ill from a fake one in village.

Also Royal Ankor International  hospital  is good for care. Check if insurance covers.

Definitely medicine and specialty drugs for infectious diseases and for example diabetes is way, way, way more affordable in Cambodia. Medications such amoxicillin for infections would cost me about $75 USD  for a package of 12 in the USA, here in Cambodia $2.00 USD.
There are lots of pharmacies within the city and provinces which makes medicine affordable and reachable so far.

Where exactly are the services European Dentistry located??
Seems that it is a dreaded thing to look for in Cambodia in general.

Medication cheap if u treat yourself and know what you have. Always check on internet what the pharmacies give you. They have given me wrong meds many times. Some won't take them back so now I check there before I buy it.
This is the hospitals and Doctors here. I was exerciseing and threw my back out. We several falls before then I though maybe it was broken or vitibray cracked. I went for MRI. They said yes broken. Said go back to States they could do nothing.
First Doctor I say took x Ray and also looked at MRI report. Not broken.
I had to go back to States to get right diagnosis. Don't trust them in States they couldn't work as veterinary.

Sorry for bad spelling.

Richard,
I read your post and believe me most of the doctors there are really not "certified" and are doctors only in name. I have been in hospitals in Phnom Phen where I hear the doctors diagnose ailments as:
"rotted gut"
"water in your veins"
"you eat too much fat in beef, that why you have ear infection"
"leaking kidney"
... yes... these are the terms used by the freaking doctors to diagnose illnesses (mostly translations though my wife).
My wife is a trained nurse and she's been in that profession for over 23 years and she knows waaayyyy more than any head of medicine in the province hospitals and some PP hospitals and clinics. There are very few well-qualified doctors who have received proper training in Cambodia but they are located in private clinics and by reference only.

Your very right. In most  Westerns countries  I don't think they could pass test for veterinary Doctors.

I have traveled to Thailand for medical treatment when it was needed.If you have a serious medical problem and are on a tight budget the Chulalongkorn hospital is a government hospital that is a teaching hospital and has very good doctors.Many of the surgeons who work at Chulalongkorn also work at Bumengrad which is a very nice hospital but much more expensive.

Do you know how many units in the insulin pens 4, 5?

Apokalis wrote:

Do you know how many
units in the insulin pens 4, 5?


I admit I don't know about Cambodia but in Vietnam they sell Lantus insulin pens containing 300 units each (3 ml of u-100 insulin) either individually or in boxes of 5 pens.

Thank you for your response.

I plan visiting Cambodia in May, with the intention of staying up to a year. I suffer from anxiety & depression, and use Effexor (Aus brand name) - Venlafaxine STADA (generic brand name) medication to treat my condition. Can anybody kindly help provide me with information as to weather this particular type of antidepressant is available from pharmacies in Cambodia?

Google Pharmacie de la Gare in Phnom Penh, they have a wide variety of imported medicine.

Good luck.

Joe

It is best if you can bring it from home.

@Sunsailor  i will be in Kampot next month what was the pharmacy you said was a good one to use there thanks 🙏 for your help

Hello nhatrang2,

Unfortunately, Sunsailor is no longer active and might not reply to you.

However, you can check the Pharmacies in Cambodia page. You will find a list of pharmacies listed there and you can get in touch with them.

Cheers,

Yoginee
Expat.com team