Health

A medical evacuation plane with seven people on board has reportedly crashed west of Senegal during a flight from Burkina Faso to Dakar. Senegal's civil aviation authority said on Sunday the private plane, operated by Senegalair, which had taken off from Ouagadougou, disappeared from radar screens at 7:08 p.m. (1908 GMT) on Saturday 118 km (74 miles) west of the Senegalese capital.

Senegal's armed forces are conducting a search for the plane, the authority said in a statement. The plane was carrying a French patient, three crew members and medical staff, including a doctor and two nurses. Nationalities of those on board included two Algerians and a citizen of Congo, although the aviation authority did not specify whether it referred to the Democratic Republic of Congo or Republic of Congo. 

The plane, chartered by SOS Medicin Senegal, left Ouagadougou at 4.30 p.m. (1630 GMT), Burkina Faso's Minister of Transport, Daouda Traore, told Reuters. Ouagadougou is around 1,700 km (1,080 miles) southeast of the capital city Dakar. Dakar features the Medina district with its interesting traditional theme as well the esteemed Musee Theodore Monod, which displays unique African art. Senegal is located on Africa’s west coast and is known for its heritage and natural attractions.

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Ngwa Bertrand

07.Sep.2015

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The people of Mora in the Mayo Sava Division of the Far-North Region have received a consignment of sanitation kits donated by a Non-Governmental Organization, Plan International Cameroon. The donation was made on 3rd September 2015 in the locality of Mora Massi during a ceremony chaired by the Second Assistant S.D.O to launch a five-day sensitization campaign on hygiene and sanitation.

The package included soap, buckets and disinfectants and comes after a recent case of Cholera in the area was identified in the area. According to the Field Coordinator of Plan International Cameroon, Tchado Julienne the campaign is part of a project to ameliorate the living condition of the Central African and Nigerian refugees as well as the indigenous people of the Far-North Region. 

The Sultan of Mandara, His Majesty, Moutzigue guided the officials as they visited toilets under construction and water pumps in the area. In the meantime, a demonstration on the washing of hands with soap and the purification of water highlighted the ceremony, coupled with animations from traditional dance group. It is sponsored through a partnership between Plan International Cameroon and the Canada Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development.

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Ngwa Bertrand

05.Sep.2015

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Some 2500 patients with eye defects in Garoua have benefited from a free consultation that ended on 2nd September 2015. This was thanks to a one-week health campaign organised at the Garoua Central Hospital by the International Islamic Relief Organization of the Kingdom of Saudi-Arabia. During the health drive, 500 patients mostly those with serious cases of cataract were operated upon and given medication and lenses free of charge. 

The Head of the medical team said the campaign is the fruit of cooperation between Cameroon and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. He added that the blindness prevention program to treat cataract is their own way of extending solidarity to the needy especially those of forty years and above. The patients on their part expressed gratitude to the Minister of Public Health for facilitating cooperation with the Saudi Arabian team.

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Ngwa Bertrand

04.Sep.2015

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The UK’s health secretary has ordered a probe into breach of the privacy of hundreds of HIV patients whose confidential details were leaked by a clinic in London. Jeremy Hunt called for the inquiry after the 56 Dean Street clinic in London accidentally posted names and email addresses of some 780 HIV patients on its online newsletter on Tuesday. Hunt said the Care Quality Commission would conduct “a thorough and independent review” of data security measures in the NHS. “The inquiry was vital to ensure patients could be confident that the health service will properly safeguard details of their health and treatment records”. 

The clinic, which is run by the Chelsea and Westminster NHS trust, apologized for disclosing names of the patients and admitted on Wednesday that the breach was a "devastating". Alan McOwan, the clinic's consultant and lead clinician called the incident as human error stressing that not everybody on the list had HIV. “We deleted the email as soon as we realized what had happened. If it is still in your inbox please delete it immediately. Clearly this is completely unacceptable. We are urgently investigating how this has happened and I promise you that we will take steps to ensure it never happens again. We will send you the outcome of the investigation,” McOwan said in a message.

The incident has already stoked tensions at political as well as public levels with many calling it a breach of privacy and that the National Health Service is losing the trust. “The truth is that we will throw this all away if we lose the public’s trust in our ability to look after their personal data securely,” Hunt said during NHS England’s annual conference in Manchester. Many HIV positive patients who have so far kept their disease secret from their relatives and friends have expressed concerns over revelations of their identities. “I find it impossible to believe that in this day and age this can happen. I was able to scroll down the list and identify the names of a number of people who I knew, some of whom I was unaware of their status,” Rob Sherrard, an HIV patient who has attended the clinic for two and a half years, said.

Privacy watchdog could levy fines on clinic disclosing secret files. Another patient told the Guardian that he was worried that the list of all those affected might end up on the internet. Although clinic has apologized for what it called “a human error” but the privacy watchdog can impose about half a million pound fine on the clinic for data breaches.

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Ngwa Bertrand

03.Sep.2015

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Two patients suffering from kidney malfunction are reported dead at the Bamenda Regional Hospital following a shortage of Hemodialysis kits. The director of the dialysis Centre affirmed that the deaths occured as a result of the shortage of dialysis machines used by patients suffering from kidney malfunctions. The hospital is presently left with two kits to be shared by 72 patients. Six out of eight kits that have been serving the needs of these patients are all damaged.

As a result of this, patients suffering from kidney failure are presently worried as their conditions might become worsen given that just two kits are left for 72 of them. This according to health experts implies that the time interval will have to increase – risky for some whose names are far behind the list. 

Hemodialysis according to health experts, is a method used in removing waste products such as faeses, urine and extra fluid, from patients which build up in the blood when the kidneys are no longer functioning. As such, people with kidney failure need dialysis (since they cannot naturally send out waste), or a kidney transplant to stay alive.

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Ngwa Bertrand

01.Sep.2015

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A large quantity of fake drugs have been seized by gendarmerie officers in Tiko in the South-West region of the country. The fake, adulterated and expired drugs are the handiwork of a joint Cameroonian and Nigerian traffickers. The drugs estimated at 25 million FCFA were discovered inside a truck officially carrying foodstuffs, including rice and corn flour.

Local markets in the South West region are flooded with fake medications that are sold on the streets of Buea, Muea, Kumba, Mamfe, Limbe Mutenegene, Mundemba including Tiko which is the port of entry for the drugs. Police sources hinted Cameroon Concord that the drugs seized were from Nigeria destined for our local markets and countries in the Sub Saharan region. 

André Mama Fouda, Minister of Public Health, recently lamented during a press conference, the high consumption of adulterated and expired drugs in the country.

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Ngwa Bertrand

28.Aug.2015

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