A 32-year-old woman died in Pursat province on Saturday hours after receiving an injection for a stomach ache administered by an untrained and unlicensed local medic, police said on Sunday.
Kan Kimpheav, 63, was called by the family of Lai Puthy at about 9 a.m. to treat her stomach pain, said deputy provincial police chief Keo Sokunthea.
Arriving at the family’s house in Kandieng district, Mr. Kimpheav gave the woman an injection and an intravenous drip, but her condition quickly worsened, Mr. Sokunthea said, adding that Lai Puthy died while on the way to the provincial referral hospital at about 3 p.m.
He said police did not know what was in the injection, but that Mr. Kimpheav often treated residents of the area.
“He knows a little about injections, so when they are sick they always ask him to help,” he said, adding that police were searching for the medic, who had not returned home on Saturday.
The government pledged to eradicate unlicensed medics after one caused an HIV outbreak in rural Battambang province in late 2014; however, experts say the demand for cheap services and the poor state medical system will make it all but impossible.
