Sam Oeun Sam has worked for more than 17 years to improve health equity for poor and vulnerable people, most recently as managing director of Buddhism for Health (BfH).

Sam Oeun believes that community-based organizations can experiment with innovative approaches to provide care to vulnerable populations, which can then be evaluated, replicated, or scaled up to meet the needs of greater numbers of people.

Sam Oeun and his BfH colleagues have been introducing Community Managed Health Equity Funds (CMHEF), a self-sustaining community contribution mechanism designed to improve access to quality healthcare services. Through their efforts, CMHEF now covers a population of 140,000 in Cambodia, including elderly poor and people with disabilities. Sam Oeun also is chairman of the Social Health Protection Association, a member-owned organization that promotes community-based health insurance in Cambodia.