Cameroon facing worsening healthcare shortage ⁰

Cameroon’s healthcare system faces a shortage of 68,000 personnel, Public Health Minister Manaouda Malachie recently told lawmakers. This shortage, the minister said, prevents the country from meeting World Health Organization (WHO) standards.

The government official made this revelation before members of the Finance Committee of the National Assembly while defending the Public Health Ministry’s budget for the 2025 fiscal year.

Pressed by lawmakers to explain the shortage of medical staff in healthcare facilities, the minister emphasized the “need to recruit healthcare personnel in light of the scarcity of doctors and that, in accordance with the workforce management plan, recruitment is carried out with consideration of its financial sustainability for the state,” as noted in the committee’s report.

He nonetheless reassured that “efforts are being made to ensure that every locality has healthcare personnel.” Moreover, Manaouda Malachie informed the deputies that “given the sensitivity of the public health sector, a massive healthcare personnel recruitment project is underway. This will eventually significantly reduce the deficit.” However, similar promises had been made in the past.

Four years ago, in December 2021, at the same hearing, Manaouda Malachie acknowledged a deficit of 55,000 healthcare workers. He requested a budget line for the following year to “enhance the availability of quality human resources in healthcare facilities, develop a new human resources development plan, and engage in advocacy and social dialogue to improve working conditions for healthcare personnel.” Yet, by the minister’s own admission, with the current deficit of 68,000 personnel, the gap has widened by 13,000 since 2021.

According to the Cameroon Employers’ Association, Cameroonian doctors, along with teachers, are among the professional categories most likely to emigrate to Canada. An estimated 6,000 of them left the country between April and August 2024.

Source: Sbbc