Cameroon: New study shows a woman dies every two hours while a newborn dies every six hours

A study entitled Maternity and Maternal Deaths in Douala has revealed that a woman dies every two hours while a newborn dies every six hours in Cameroon. According to the Demographic and Health Survey (DHS), the mortality rate for children under 5 is 122, while the maternal mortality ratio increased from 430 to 782 deaths per 1,000 live births between 1998 and 2011.

Dr. Jeannette Wogaing,the author of the thesis noted that poorly trained staff and ill equipped facilities are the source of these alarming figures. She added that our public maternity hospitals have no doctors and are run by nurses not even midwives who are suppose to refer patients to doctors.

The implementation of the so called Human Resource Building Program for Reproductive Health initiated by the state which has already had financial and technical support from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) have so far failed to change the poor situation in the country.