Health

The present state of the Yaounde General Hospital leaves much to be desired. The first referral hospital in the country is fast becoming like any normal hospital due to the poor state of infrastructure and other factors.

 At the Yaounde General Hospital yesterday, April 26, 2016, work was going on normally. Medical staff could be seen attending to patients and other needs. What has been the cause for worry over the years is the state of the infrastructure. In most parts of the hospital the paint on the walls is peeling off, most of the corridors are dark and patients have to wait for consultation in these corridors and obsolete equipment abounds. However, one patient who went to consult at the hospital said the hospital renders adequate health services in spite of the poor state of the infrastructure.

The Technical director of the Yaounde General Hospital, Kolo Jean Claude Philippe said since its creation in 1987, the hospital has faced a lot of degradation at the level of infrastructure. Due to lack of maintenance, there has been an accumulation of problems as far as infrastructure is concerned. The story is the same in all the domains. Water installations are worn out for a greater part and electrical installations that exist, no longer respect existing norms. The air conditioning system is as well outdated. Most of the equipment in the hospital has not yet been replaced and some are deteriorated. At the level of the equipment the problem is not only the need for new equipment, but to be able to meet the demands of modern technology. Kolo Jean Claude Philippe says these problems have badly affected the activities of the hospital although it still gives quality treatment. 

Efforts are being made to improve the state of the hospital and raise the health facility to modern standards. This is seen through the development plan between the Yaounde General Hospital and the State that went into effect in 2014 and that enabled the hospital to start resolving its problems. The Minister of Public Health, André Mama Fouda launched the emergency plan for the restructuring of the hospital on Monday, April 26, 2015. The rehabilitation work is in line with triennial emergency plan of action in the health domain.

According to the technical director, the emergency plan of action has come to strengthen the work started by the development plan. He expressed hope that in the short run or in one year the hospital will be profoundly renovated both at the level of infrastructure and equipment.

Cameroon Tribune

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Elangwe Pauline

27.Apr.2016

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Within the next four years, six nations in Africa – the region where malaria is most prominent – could be free of the disease, the World Health Organization said in a report published Monday to mark World Malaria Day.

The “Global Technical Strategy for Malaria 2016-2030”, approved by the WHO last year, hoped to see an end to local transmission of malaria in at least 10 countries by 2020, but now the WHO estimates that 21 countries could achieve that goal, including six in Africa.

“Since the year 2000, malaria mortality rates have declined by 60% globally. In the WHO African Region, malaria mortality rates fell by 66% among all age groups and by 71% among children under 5 years,” the WHO said in a statement accompanying the report.

The six countries in Africa that could be rid of malaria by 2020 are Algeria, Botswana, Cape Verde, Comoros, South Africa and Swaziland.

WHO says malaria infection rates are falling thanks to the use of insecticide-treated bed-nets, regular bug spraying inside dwellings and rapid diagnostic testing, though these techniques are becoming less effective as time goes on.

“The efficacy of the tools that secured the gains against malaria in the early years of this century is now threatened,” the WHO said. “Mosquito resistance to insecticides used in nets and indoor residual spraying is growing. So too is parasite resistance to a component of one of the most powerful antimalarial medicines.”

While the outlook is promising, the group cautioned that nearly half of the world’s population – around 3.2 billion people – are still at risk of contracting malaria. Just last year, 214 million new cases of malaria were reported in 95 countries. More than 400,000 people died from the disease.

The report says 9 out of ten deaths from malaria in 2015 came from sub-Saharan Africa.

Moving forward, the WHO said new technologies will need to be developed to deal with the disease and the fight will require strong political commitment and financing from governments.

“Reaching the goals of the ‘Global Technical Strategy’ will require a steep increase in global and domestic funding—from $2.5 billion today to an estimated $8.7 billion annually by 2030,” it said.

VOA

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Elangwe Pauline

25.Apr.2016

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Public Health Minister Andre Mama Fouda, April 18, commissioned the new Director of the Laquintinie Hospital Professor Louis Richard Njock into his functions.He takes over from Jean II Dissongo, sacked, following a Prime Ministerial Decree, April 12 exactly a month after the scandal at the health establishment.

Beyond the apparent euphoria that Dissongo was fired over the Monique Koumateke scandal, there is much expected from the Laquantinie hospital management.

The Minister of Public Health Andre Mama Fouda, in directives issued last month was quite conscious the public has lost confidence in public hospitals which he describes as places the public believe people visit to die. 

Poor reception of patients, lack of patient orientation within hospitals, delays in attending to patients, lack of compassion and extortion of all forms, are some of the issues Andre mama Fouda raised. Above the Minister’s directives, the new Laquantinie Hospital Management has the task to build public confidence in the hospital.

The general public expects to see how patients who are in emergency situations are treated without being demanded deposits, as it is done in most public hospitals in Cameroon.

Prof Njock is expected to take security of the hospital as a very seriously. The Koumateke scandal, to observers, poses the real question of security and guidance in hospitals and further questions  the use of police post within the hospital premises. The management must ensure that every staff of the hospital wears identification badges to facilitate the denunciation of unruly behavior.

There are also expectations that the slow pace at which payments are made to the hospital cashiers to the detriment of patients, are to be addressed.

“I don’t think anything would change. We need a change of mentality not the Director. Would the PM who appointed Njock be there to see the ill treatment of patients ? I doubt?, reacted a Douala resident .

Professor Njock who prior to his appointment served at the Edea Regional hospital in the Littoral Region, had said he would have to restructure the different services of Laquantinie for purpose of efficiency.

Other observers are questioning the role of the former director of the hospital Dr Fritz Ntone Ntone, (now Government Delegate to Douala) who remained silent over what happened at Laquantinie, given that he occupies the covetous post of the Director of hospital’s management board.

Meanwhile nothing is yet to filter as to when Monique Koumateke would be laid to rest. Family sources say they are still waiting for directives from government.

Follow this story and more on Solomon Amobo's Blog

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Solomon Amabo Amabo

18.Apr.2016

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The Director of the Yaounde General Hospital Mr Elijah Claude Ndam Njitoyap is currently in France for medical treatment since over two weeks.

It is alleged that the Minister of Public Health , Andre Mama Fouda finally authorized the evacuation of the Director after many requests were filed for the government to grant and cover his medical cost according to the Mutations daily in its April 13, 2016 edition . The reasons for the evacuation of the DG of the Yaounde General Hospital France continues to create controversy ."

Sources say the absence of the Director has in no way interfered with the daily running of activities at the Hospital.The head of the technical and medical division of the hospital is currently representing the absentee Director in all his functions.

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Elangwe Pauline

18.Apr.2016

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A two-day workshop organised by the University of Yaounde I and “Médecins du Monde” ends today in Yaounde.

 

Over 100 medical practitioners from different domains are currently undergoing training on how to enhance the quality of life for children in the face of an ultimately terminal condition. Organised by Doctors of the World (Médecins du Monde) from Switzerland and the Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences of the University of Yaounde I, the two-day workshop which ends today April 14, is within the first phase of a project “Children Palliative Care in South Countries.” The project aims to give access to and improve pediatric palliative care and support of pain for vulnerable (children) populations on the international scene. It is an initiative of “Medecins du Monde”.

While opening the workshop on behalf of the Rector of the University of Yaounde I, the Vice-Rector in Charge of Teaching, Professor Daniel Abwa lauded the initiative which is not only going to edify student doctors on pediatric palliative care but will also help those already working to better handle such situations when need arises. 

The Director of the Mother and Child Centre of the Chantal Biya Foundation, Professor Koki Ndombo who is a pediatrician, explained that they are out to know better how to care for children with diseases that cannot be treated and how they can reduce pain and discomfort the children face in a bid to boost their moral and wellbeing. He explained that a lot needs to be known by medical personnel on how to treat or delay pains in children not only with drugs but with other professionals such as educationists, humorists and musicians.

Besides sensitisation and theoretical sessions, participants at the workshop will also share experiences with experts from other countries such as Uganda and Kenya. The Hemato-Oncologist Paediatrician from Doctors of the World, Dr Cecile Choudja Ouabo said they will discuss on oncology paediatric cancer, neonatology pathologies in children amongst other issues.

At the end of the workshop, it is expected that participants will not only be informed on what palliative care is about but will also be able to integrate it immediately in their daily duties. The President of the Treatment of Pain Society in Cameroon who is also the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University of Yaounde I, Professor Ze Minkande Jacqueline said the workshop is within the role of the faculty to train doctors from the base to become generalist or specialist.  

Cameroon Tribune

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Elangwe Pauline

15.Apr.2016

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The 17th edition of Mother and Child Nutrition and health action week kicks off this 15th April 2016 in Cameroon.

The three day event will be marked by an intense vaccination campaign where vaccination agents will move from door to door to administer Polio vaccine to children from zero to five years; the vitamin A vaccine to children from six months to five years; while pregnant women will receive some preventive treatment against Malaria. 

In the Centre Region, the Regional Delegate of Public Health attests that all the supplements are available to be used in all the districts. All this is aimed at attaining a hundred percent coverage of the immunization campaign in the Centre Region.

In the Centre Region, vaccination agents will move to schools, market places to meet parents and children.

Parents have also been called upon to react positively to the vaccination campaign which will cover the 30 health districts of the Centre Region.

The Mother and Child Nutrition and Health action week has also coincided with the African immunization week.

CRTV

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Elangwe Pauline

15.Apr.2016

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