Health

21, November 2025

Cameroon’s Critical Shortage of Incubators Puts Thousands of Newborns at Risk ⁰

Cameroon loses nearly 10,000 newborns every year due to a severe lack of incubators and trained paediatric staff. The problem is especially acute in conflict-affected regions like the Northwest, where hospitals such as Bamenda Regional Hospital operate far below required capacity—only six incubators for nearly 20 babies, many of whom are pre-term and vulnerable to infections when forced to share equipment.

Mission hospitals face similar shortages. Mbingo Baptist Hospital, one of the country’s top referral centers, runs on just four incubators, a situation worsened by the Anglophone Crisis and COVID-19, which drastically reduced patient access. Nationally, Cameroon records high child mortality: nearly 90,000 low-birth-weight babies are born annually, and about 10,000 die from preventable causes. The country’s under-five mortality rate remains far above global averages.

Experts say the crisis is driven by chronic underfunding. Cameroon allocates only around 4% of its national budget to health, far below the 15% Abuja Declaration benchmark. Despite incubators being relatively affordable, most hospitals lack them, and paediatric specialists are also in short supply—only about 200 paediatricians serve 15 million children, with many doctors leaving the country for better conditions.

Efforts to improve the situation are emerging. MP Peter Njume has launched a Parliamentary Caucus on Health Financing to push for increased domestic funding. Meanwhile, a coalition led by Professor Pius Tih and the African Children’s Healthcare Fund is working to build Cameroon’s first dedicated paediatric hospital, which would include modern neonatal care equipment and specialist staff.

With children making up nearly half of Cameroon’s population, experts warn that expanding paediatric services is urgent if the country hopes to reach universal health coverage by 2030.

Source: Trendsafrica

17, September 2025

Germany: Cameroonian nurses set up association ⁰

A group of Cameroonian nurses in the Federal Republic of Germany have set up the Cameroonian Nurses Association (CNA) to help carry out their valuable work.

The organization, which will be inaugurated this Saturday, comprises registered nurses working in Germany from Cameroon.

There is a huge number of Cameroonian nurses in Germany at the moment and many are based in the North Rhein Westphalia region.

Cameroon Concord News understands that the group was established to unite nurses of Cameroonian origin under one umbrella and to promote excellence in healthcare, professional development and community well-being.

The Cameroonian Nurses Association (CNA) also strives to provide nursing support, share vital health information, and encourage healthy lifestyles within communities.

Through collaboration with institutions in Cameroon and Germany, CNA aims to enhance nursing education and create pathways for Cameroonian nurses aspiring to build successful careers abroad, while contributing to improved healthcare standards at home and beyond.

The founding members are experienced healthcare professionals who are seeking to bring Cameroonian nurses together to promote collaboration, mutual support, and professional growth.

The Saturday 20 maiden event beginning at 4 pm prompt will be hosted at Talent Werkstatt, Oberhausenerstr 192 in Mulheim Styrum.

By Chi Prudence Asong in Mulheim

4, September 2025

Congo-Kinshasa declares new Ebola outbreak as death toll reaches 15 ⁰

Health authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo have declared a new outbreak of the Ebola virus, which has killed 15 people since the end of August, the health minister said Thursday.

The new outbreak is in central Kasai province, Samuel Roger Kamba told reporters in the capital Kinshasa.

The last outbreak of Ebola in the vast central African nation was three years ago and killed six people.

Twenty-eight suspected cases have been recorded, according to provisional figures, with the first case reported on August 20 in a 34-year-old pregnant woman who was admitted to hospital.

“It’s the 16th outbreak recorded in our country,” Kamba said.

First identified in 1976 and thought to have crossed over from bats, Ebola is a deadly viral disease spread through direct contact with bodily fluids, causing severe bleeding and organ failure.

The deadliest outbreak in the DRC – whose population numbers more than 100 million – killed nearly 2,300 people between 2018 and 2020.

Six strains of Ebola exist.

Source: France 24

29, July 2025

Cameroon hails health cooperation with China for half a century ⁰

As early as six in the morning, Marceline Mbo had already taken her seat in a makeshift but comprehensive Chinese clinic outside Saint Brigitte Health Center in Afanoya, a village on the outskirts of Yaounde, Cameroon’s capital.

The mother of three came to seek treatment for a toothache and an eye problem that had lasted for three years. She was accompanied by her two children, who are also suffering from ailments.

“I’m waiting for the Chinese doctors … to treat the eye pain and the toothache, and for the children, they can treat them for malaria,” said the 40-year-old.

Sitting beside Mbo were Essomba Messomo and his wife, Onana Josephine Messomo.

“We arrived early. At 5:30, we were already on our way here. I came for my eyes. My vision is blurry. I have a severe headache,” said Josephine Messomo, 60.

As the sun rose over Afanoya, patients began to register and then see doctors in various specialties. The doctors are members of the 24th batch of the Chinese medical team in Cameroon.

Mbo was among the first patients seen by Chinese doctors for the day in the hospital, at the ophthalmology section.

“There were letters I had to read, and after that, they prescribed eye drops. I feel reassured and confident that my problem will be resolved,” Mbo said.

Josephine Messomo said she was well received. “They are real professionals, these Chinese doctors.”

Her 82-year-old husband felt relieved after seeing Chinese doctors and taking medication given by them, she said.

The three-day free treatment camp, which ended over the weekend, was part of a series of activities commemorating the 50th anniversary of health cooperation between China and Cameroon.

The first Chinese medical team arrived in Cameroon, in the town of Mbalmayo, in 1975.

“Since then, they have continued to provide care, share skills, and address dashed hopes in the most isolated regions,” said Cameroonian Minister of Public Health Manaouda Malachie. “Through these missions, medicine has become a fraternity, and the impact of Chinese action in Cameroon has become more perceptible and tangible.”

For 50 years, China has dispatched 24 medical teams, comprising 786 personnel, to Cameroon, said Kang Yijiong, head of the current Chinese medical team in Cameroon.

“The medical team has branches in the capital city of Yaounde and the small town of Mbalmayo,” he said. “For half a century, we have provided outpatient and emergency services to over 3.3 million patients, performed over 160,000 surgeries, and treated over 49,000 critically ill patients. We have also organized nearly 200 free medical camps.”

Among the people who have benefited from Chinese medical largess is Liliane Mfoumou, who lives in Ngat-Bane, a village in southern Cameroon.

Mfoumou, now 72, had endured pain for years from a severe back injury. When the Chinese medical team visited Ngat-Bane in 2022, she received treatment from a Chinese acupuncturist, who inserted fine needles into her skin at “acupoints.”

“The magic performed by the Chinese doctor healed me. Today, I go to the farm regularly and do other activities. I feel no pain. I am so thankful to the Chinese doctors,” Mfoumou told Xinhua by phone.

Recently, the Chinese medical team in Mbalmayo provided free medical services at the SOS Children’s Village.

In a letter addressed to the team after the services, SOS Children’s Village expressed “immense joy and deep gratitude.”

“You showed exemplary commitment to the well-being of the most vulnerable,” the letter read.

For 50 years, China has also funded major medical facilities in Cameroon, including two gynecologic-obstetric and pediatric hospitals in Yaounde and the commercial hub of Douala.

“These hospitals, which have long carried the very significant designation of Chinese Reference Hospitals, are true healthcare flagships that symbolize medical excellence,” said Manaouda, the health minister.

The actions of Chinese medical teams in Cameroon represented a shared vision of a fairer world, where access to health care and services is a right, not a luxury, he said.

“Through these actions, China does not simply give; it shares. It does not dictate; it proposes. It does not impose itself; it cooperates,” the minister said.

“This 50th anniversary is not just a celebration. It is a call to aim further, higher, and stronger,” he said.

Eunice Nchang, a senior nurse at Yaounde Gyneco-Obstetrics and Pediatric Hospital, said Cameroonian and Chinese doctors worked shoulder-to-shoulder in treating patients and offering much-needed medical services.

“The biggest gain for Cameroon these 50 years is the experience we have gained from Chinese doctors,” she said. “Chinese medical teams share their expertise for the well-being of many Cameroonians. This is real support in a context where Cameroonian hospitals lack qualified personnel and equipment.”

Culled from Xinhuanet

14, July 2025

Global shame as Cameroon ordered to repay €1.3 million of Looted Covid-19 Funds ⁰

In a searing indictment of embezzlement and misappropriation and reckless corruption, Cameroon has been thrust into the eye of an international storm; its name dragged through the mud by the very scandal that ought never to have happened: the mismanagement of precious funds meant to save lives. The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the world’s leading financier of health programs in low-income countries, has delivered a damning ultimatum: repay €1.3 million, (FCFA 852,744,282) or face severe consequences. This comes after an April 2025 delegation to Yaoundé unearthed a tragic litany of fiscal chaos, ineligible expenditures, and grotesque misuse of Covid-19 relief funds. What was meant to preserve life has now become a theater of disgrace.

In what reads like a tragic poem of state dysfunction, auditors and investigators scoured ledgers and warehouses, only to find a tale of 238 second-hand freezers, alleged medicine thefts, and vanishing equipment – all under the shadow of a health system gasping for breath. At the heart of the storm is Cameroon’s own Ministry of Public Health, led by Minister Malachie Manaouda, whose name is now etched into the global ledger of embarrassment. Even more damning: the delegation met with the Secretary General of the Presidency, Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh, and the Minister of Finance, Louis-Paul Motaze; clear evidence that this scandal has touched the upper echelons of Cameroonian power. Despite promises and posturing, the rot ran deep.

The Global Fund’s Head of Grant Management, Mark Edington, delivered a stinging rebuke during a high-level meeting at the 78th World Health Assembly in Geneva. He did not mince words. Cameroon must comply with its co-financing commitments or face a brutal 20% slash in future grants. A blow that could leave millions without medicine, testing kits, or hope. Is this another shameful legacy of Paul Biya? That funds meant to shield our people from death are turned into a feast for the corrupt?

This is not the first time Cameroon has danced dangerously close to international condemnation. A 2022 report placed the nation among a quartet—alongside Mali, Mauritania, and Zambia—that had allegedly misappropriated a staggering US$25 million in grants. That revelation triggered Sweden to withhold its Global Fund contribution. Even earlier, in 2021, the Global Fund’s Inspector General had warned of weaknesses in Cameroon’s financial governance. And now, the chickens have come home to roost.

Where is the outrage? Where is the accountability?

In an era where every franc counts and every vial of medicine could mean the difference between life and death, the Cameroonian government has, in spectacular fashion, fumbled the moral imperative of stewardship. This is more than a bureaucratic blunder; it is a betrayal of the sick, the poor, and the vulnerable. It is a moral crime.

The silence from Etoudi is deafening. President Paul Biya’s administration, already marred by decades of opacity, now finds itself facing international censure and domestic indignation. With public health on the line and national honor under siege, the government must act swiftly.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

• Launch an independent, international audit with full transparency.

• Prosecute those responsible for embezzlement, no matter how high their rank.

• Publicly commit to a reform of all Global Fund grant management processes.

• Restore public trust through regular and transparent communication with Cameroonians.

• Establish an oversight task force comprising civil society, international observers, and anti-corruption experts.

Cameroon stands at a moral crossroads. It can either cleanse its institutions and restore dignity, or wallow in the mire of disgrace while the world watches in horror. The time for spin is over. The era of silence must end. History is watching; and it will not be kind.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

27, June 2025

Yaoundé plans new law on organ donation as dialysis cases reach 2.5 million ⁰

Lawmakers in Cameroon are set to review a draft bill on organ donation, collection, and transplantation, as part of government efforts to address growing health challenges linked to organ failure.

The proposed law, presented to the National Assembly today, aims to “fill the existing legal vacuum and create better prospects for people in need of biological material transplants in Cameroon,” according to the explanatory note.

The government highlights that organ harvesting and transplantation procedures are on the rise, particularly among patients with kidney failure. Official figures show that 2.5 million people are currently undergoing dialysis in Cameroon, including 700,000 in the cities of Douala and Yaoundé.

By legislating on organ donation and collection, the government hopes to address three key challenges: closing the legal gap, offering a long-term solution for kidney failure, and reducing public spending on dialysis centers.

The bill points out that kidney transplants can offer a permanent solution for end-stage renal failure at a significantly lower cost for both patients and the public treasury.

A legal framework is increasingly important as Cameroon has made progress in organ transplants. “To date, kidney harvesting and transplants are being carried out at the Yaoundé General Hospital, with 14 successful cases recorded since the first operation,” the government stated.

Source: Sbbc

1, March 2025

Angola: Cholera outbreak kills over 200 ⁰

The number of people killed in the latest cholera outbreak in Angola has risen to 201, the country’s Health Ministry announced.

A total of 5,574 people have been infected since early January, the ministry said in a press release on Friday.

Cholera cases have been reported in 13 of Angola’s 21 provinces. The outbreak originated in the capital province of Luanda, which has recorded the highest number of cases, followed by the neighboring provinces of Bengo and Icolo e Bengo.

23, December 2024

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

28, November 2024

Yaoundé: Professor Robinson Mbu in tears after being sacked by Biya ⁰

More than two decades ago, Professor Robinson Mbu then President of the Manyu Elements Cultural Association in Yaoundé told this news reporter that he believed in miracles.

Mbu a very brilliant Southern Cameroons student with more than twenty A level points was refused a place in the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Yaoundé by the Francophone dominated regime.

By some strange happenstance, he travelled to neighboring Cross River State and deceived the government there that he was a citizen of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. And so they allowed him to study medicine in the Federal Republic of Nigeria without paying a penny.

It was indeed a “miracle” for Robinson Mbu who graduated in Nigeria, returned home and became a chartered member of the ruling CPDM crime syndicate. His areas of specialization include Obstetrics and Gynecology, Operative laparoscopy in obstetrics and gynecology and Public health.

Robinson Mbu Enow (to use his three names) has been everything in Cameroon’s ministry of health including Director of Family Health. Late today, President Biya did what he does best by firing Professor Robinson Mbu.

Ever since the news came out on state radio and television CRTV, Robinson Mbu has been crying and jumping around at his Yaounde’s residence like a neck less chicken.

Manyu citizens in Yaoundé have been trooping to his home to console the CPDM health criminal and he has been talking ohne ende- boasting how even Biya cannot take away his professorship and that one of his buildings in Buea can keep him going forever.

It’s been clear from the very beginning of his career in Yaoundé that many CPDM barons such Minister Ahmadou Mustapha; the late Dr Ayuk Takem Jacob and even General Elokobi Daniel Njock didn’t trust this physician. That image of a trustworthy medical doctor was eroded long ago over a D and C incident which was never reported.

Today, a frustrated Mbu is crying, seemingly after losing his post in the Ministry of Health.

Stop crying please, Professor!! That is the modus operandi of the CPDM crime syndicate.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai with files from Eyong Tabot Enow in Yaoundé

1, August 2024

HIV/AIDS: Yaoundé launches nationwide survey to determine prevalence ⁰

The Minister of Public Health Manaouda Malachie on Wednesday unveiled a nationwide survey to ascertain the prevalence of HIV/AIDS and the impact of preventive measures in the country.

The survey, dubbed Cameroon Population-based HIV Impact Assessment (CAMPHIA), will run from August to February 2025.

“It aims to comprehensively explore the situation of HIV infection within the population aged 15 and over based on a nationally representative sample. The primary objective of CAMPHIA 2024 is to estimate the national and regional prevalence of HIV viral suppression, while the secondary objectives are to estimate the incidence and prevalence of HIV at the national level,” Manaouda said in a statement made public Wednesday afternoon.

It is one of the largest surveys to assess HIV prevalence in the Central African nation and would aid in implementing new measures to further prevent its spread.

“Nationally, the survey will cover 512 enumeration areas from which 15,360 households will be randomly selected, for a total of approximately 28,405 people,” Manaouda added.

The first HIV survey was conducted in the country in 2017.

According to data published by the World Health Organization in 2023, Cameroon witnessed a 50 percent decrease in HIV prevalence among people aged 15 to 64 in the past 14 years.

Source: Xinhuanet