Category: Medical

The Minister of Public Health, Dr. Manaouda Malachi, has reiterated the commitment of the Cameroon government to eradicate malaria in Cameroon.

He was speaking this April 25th during a workshop organized in Yaounde on the occasion of the commemoration of the 16th edition of world malaria day celebrated this year under the theme: “Time to deliver zero malaria, invest, innovate, implement”.

“This April 25th the whole world is organizing a setup advocacy in favor of the fight against malaria. Cameroon which is not left behind has joined the international community for this advocacy in taking stock of the enforcement over the past 12 months. This is also the opportunity to reiterate the commitment of the Cameroon government and its partner to eradicate this disease,” Dr Manaouda stated.

The US Ambassador to Cameroon, Christopher John Lamora declared that the US government has invested billions in the fight against the disease.

“Through the President’s Malaria Initiative, PMI, the US government has invested more than 80 billion FCFA in Cameroon since 2017. This investment has helped to reduce overall child mortality by more than 35 %.

“Between 2017 and 2022, PMI in collaboration with Cameroon’s malaria control program, has provided seasonal malaria chemoprevention treatment to close to 2 million children annually and supported more than 75,000 capacity building trainings for Cameroonian health workers. Last year, the government delivered more than 5,000 insecticides treated mosquito nets, 9 million doses of seasonal malaria chemoprevention treatment, and 2 million rapid diagnoses tests in the North and Far North regions.”

The Ambassador further explained that the US government has been involved in the global fight against malaria from the 1950s till date.

Various stakeholders have therefore reflected on the progress made so far in eradicating the disease as well as highlighted the need for continuous investment and sustained political, economic and social commitment to prevent and get rid of malaria.

Source: Cameroon News Agency

The Bishops made the request to the Ministry of Public Health, for a subsidy supply of medicines to denominational health facilities, CNA learned. This was during an audience with the Minister, Dr. Manaouda Malachie, on April 20, 2023.

Four Bishops including His Lordship Samuel Kleda, President of the Episcopal Commission for Health, and the Bishops of Yagoua, Bamenda, represented the Catholic Church.

The men of God said that, since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the health structures under their jurisdiction have experienced serious difficulties in terms of the availability of medical products.

Another point raised during this meeting was the government’s delay in response to requests for the opening of new health facilities initiated by the religious authorities.

A complaint was also made regarding the request for the supply of equipment for the operation of the new health center recently created in the Lebialem division, South-West Region.

Health Minister assured the Bishops that his ministry will look into their plights “I have great esteem for denominational health facilities. This is why I will not hesitate to find favorable solutions to the various problems posed. I will like to seize this opportunity to make a plea to all the Cameroonian clergy to begin the process of sensitization in the health facilities under your authority, in favor of the implementation of phase 1 of Universal Health Coverage”

Source: Cameroon News Agency

The Mayor of the District Municipality of Yaounde 1 Jean Marie ABOUNA, in partnership with the company GAODA International Investment Trading Sarl and the team of the 22nd Chinese medical session in Cameroon, has launched a major campaign of health for the benefit of the population of his community, on Thursday, April 20, 2023.

According to the Mayor, Jean Marie Abouna, “the fact that the populations adhere massively to this free health promotion campaign, is beneficial and salutary, taking into account the difficulties encountered by our populations, with regard to health care, which is an integral part of the elements that structure the improvement of living conditions”.

The Managing Director of Gaoda Investment, Huang Jian Bing said this goes in line with corporate social responsibility, “I will provide support to the population of Yaounde in general, and of Yaounde 1 in particular, within the framework of Community Management”.

The said health campaign, is aimed at screening for common pathology followed by the free distribution of related drugs.

The medical team consists of 21 doctors including 16 Chinese and 05 Cameroonians.

Source: Cameroon News Agency

Already 5 persons have died of cholera in the Centre region of Cameroon and 88 cases have been detected as of April 19 with a mortality rate of 5.68%. The information was revealed on Wednesday April 19th by the Minister of public ealth, Dr Manaouda Malachie in a release as he calls on Cameroonians to be vigilant and to respect food hygiene practices.

According to the Dr Manaouda Malachie, the cases were detected in the Obala, Djoungolo, Cité Verte, Biyemassi, Mfou and Nkolndongo health districts and need to be properly handled so as to avoid its spread to other parts of the country.

Let’s recall that in 2022, Cameroon was among several countries in West and Central Africa that experienced recurrent cholera outbreaks. According to data from the World Health Organization, between 29 October 2021 and 30 April 2022, a total of 6,652 suspected cases including 134 deaths (case fatality ratio 2%) were reported in 6 regions of the country.

The South-West had 4,617 cases, 77 deaths

The Littoral recorded 1,704 cases, 51 deaths,

The South 183 cases with 2 deaths,

The Centre 125 cases, four deaths,

The North 15 cases, no death and Far North eight cases, no death.

We also learn that of the 6,652 suspected cases, 5,960 cases that is 90%, including 93 deaths (69%) were reported in 2022.

The Minister however reassures public opinion that necessary preventive and curative measures will continue to be taken to prevent the spread of the disease. Some of these measures are sensitization campaigns, disinfecting households and communities, water purification kits made available by teams from the Regional Delegation of Public Health for the Centre to avoid its spread to other regions among other measures.

Dr Manaouda Malachie concludes the release by saying suspected cases with symptoms such as persistent diarrhea and vomiting should be immediately taken to hospital for prompt medical action or people who suspect they could be sick can also call the toll free number 1510 for further information.

Source: Cameroon News Agency

Ms. Monica Nkrumah, Principal, Holy Family Nursing and Midwifery Training College (NMTC), Berekum says stakeholders’ consultations were advanced for the commencement of Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) degree programme in Mental Health Nursing at the College.

She said the Mental Health Authority and the Ministry of Health had given approval for the start of the programme from the 2023/2024 academic year to produce qualified mental health nurses to help expand the mental health workforce at health facilities nationwide.

Ms Nkrumah made the announcement when she was speaking at the 2022/2023 matriculation ceremony of the College at Berekum in the Bono Region.

A total of 427 applicants that comprised 200 for registered midwifery and 227 for registered general nursing were admitted for the College’s twin campuses at the Holy Family Catholic Hospital at Berekum, Berekum East Municipality and at the St. Mary’s Catholic Hospital at Drobo in the Jaman South Municipality of the region.

She stated the need for the nation to train more mental health professionals to be deployed to the health sector alongside the increasing population for a positive impact to ensure the quality state of the citizenry’s mental health.

Ms Nkrumah said the consequences of poor mental health on the general population were so palpable that it could predispose victims to a variety of physical illnesses.

This she said could result in the reduction of the quality of lives and individual productivity with associated fewer opportunities for income which might affect the total national productivity.

Ms. Nkrumah added the state of poor mental health could also account for crimes like violence, drug trafficking, child abuse, paedophilia, suicide, and other social vices.

She expressed worry about the mass migration of health care professionals abroad, saying it had become a major challenge confronting the health care fraternity in the country.

Ms Nkrumah said research has shown an average of 400 to 500 nurses and midwives left the country every month to seek greener pastures abroad which had created a massive shortage of personnel in the sector.

She assured parents and guardians of the College’s commitment to providing the students with a friendly environment since both teaching and non-teaching staff were dedicated to preparing them for productive work in the future.

Ms Nkrumah therefore urged parents and guardians to pay their children and wards school fees on time and to settle their indebtedness to enable the College to provide the basic and required equipment and logistics to facilitate effective teaching and learning.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Seychelles’ Cabinet of Ministers has given its approval for the island nation to host the 19th annual Indian Ocean colloquium on HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis and Addictology from 13-15 November.

The statement was made by Vice President Ahmed Afif in a press briefing on the Cabinet decisions on Thursday.

“It is a group that Seychelles is part of and every year one of the countries hosts it. In 2019, we made a commitment that we will host it in 2023. Around 200 delegates will attend and we will have the opportunity to learn from the professionals.

The groups consist of Seychelles, Mauritius, Madagascar, Reunion and Comoros.

Island nation’s health situation ‘alarming’

Afif said that the Cabinet was also briefed on the nation’s health and health services through professional presentations.

He said the situation is alarming as in many instances things have become worse and the principal factors are cigarette smoking, alcohol and drug use, eating habits and behaviour.

“The situation is quite alarming in the sense that they looked at the principal symptoms our people are suffering from. Many of them have to do with heart diseases, diabetes, cancer and lung diseases. These are principally non-communicable illnesses which means they are either hereditary or related to people’s lifestyles. They compared our lifestyle from 1989 to around 2013,” said Afif.

He said the areas where there are improvements in the number of people who used to smoke. In 1989, it amounted to 30 percent of Seychelles’ population and now it is 17 percent. People with high blood pressure have gone down from 38 percent to 30 percent and cholesterol from 45 percent to 36 percent.

Things have worsened in the percentage of people who are obese or overweight. In 1989, it was 40 percent and now it is 64 percent. Furthermore, among the girls up to Secondary 4 (15-16 years) – 35 percent are overweight and among the boys in the same age group it is 30 percent. Diabetes was found in only 6 percent of the population and has almost doubled to 11 percent.

In Seychelles, healthcare is free and, therefore, changes in illness factors have a direct impact on the government’s budget.

“We believe that it is alarming because these are the factors that tomorrow will put a cost on services offered by the Ministry of Health. The report shows that one of the illnesses caused by these factors is kidney disease which means dialysis and today we are spending around SCR 80 million [$6.25 million] for 200 patients. There are other diseases that come with a heavy cost like overseas treatment for around 200 cancer patients at SCR 50 million [$3.9 million] every year. This comes to a total of SCR 130 million [$10.2 million], which represents 10 percent of the health ministry’s budget for the 400 patients,” he said.

He said this is alarming for the Cabinet because if the number of patients doubled it will mean that less than 1 percent of Seychelles’ population is using 20 percent of the health budget.

He gave other treatment costs per patient per month.

“Many people talk about the cost of the methadone treatment but in fact, there are other illnesses costing us more. The medical cost of methadone is SCR150 [$12] each month for one patient. A person on the anti-retroviral treatment for HIV is SCR 1,600 [$125] per month, tuberculosis is SCR 350 [$27] per month, or hepatitis SCR 4,000 [$312] per month, dialysis SCR 33,000 [$2600] per month, for overseas treatment on average is 21,000 [$1600] per month,” said Afif.

He said that this is why the Ministry of Health needs a budget of SCR1.3 billion [$78 million ] per year while many of the constraints it is facing are coming from outside the Ministry.

“So, we must at all cost look for ways to control those illnesses that we can because some like cancer is often hereditary and beyond our control. What we can control is the way we eat, encourage our people to do more exercises, consume less cigarettes, alcohol and drugs,” he added.

Afif reminded people that “our health is our responsibility.”

He said that “in the short term, the government must take note of the current situation and we must accept if are at fault and correct them. In the presentation, the professionals also recommended what we must do to improve the situation.”

Source: Seychelles News Agency