A spike in cholera in Cameroon has killed 140 people since October last year, Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute said on Wednesday.

“The updated epidemiological situation report shows a total of 7 287 notified cases, including 140 deaths, since October 2021,” he said in a statement.

“Three regions continue to record new patients,” he added, referring to the Littoral region, the West region, and the English-speaking Southwest region.

A vaccination campaign is to start in June, the government has said.

Cholera is an acute form of diarrhoea that is treatable with antibiotics and hydration but can kill within hours if left untreated.

Outbreaks occur periodically in Cameroon, a west African nation of more than 25 million inhabitants. The last epidemic occurred between January and August 2020, when 66 people died.

Cholera is caused by a germ that is typically transmitted by poor sanitation. People become infected when they swallow food or water carrying the bug.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) said in early 2021 there were between 1.3 and four million cases of cholera per year around the world, leading to between 21 000 and 143 000 deaths.

Source: AFP

The Ambazonia Interim Government (IG) has sounded a note of caution to all Southern Cameroonians in the diaspora about the dire healthcare situation in Ground Zero, exacerbated by continued Francophone army military operations.

Vice President Dabney Yerima says urgent action is needed to contain the ongoing cholera, COVID-19 pandemic and measles outbreak in the Ambazonia homeland.

Briefing the Ambazonia war cabinet on his recent trip to Cambodia, Dabney Yerima cited acute malnutrition across Southern Cameroons as another health problem requiring swift action. Yerima pointed out that those in the Diaspora should help families and love ones back home in all what they can during this difficult times.

The exiled Ambazonia leader said the poor healthcare system in Southern Cameroons, which worsened after Biya and French Cameroun declared a complete military takeover of the entire homeland is rapidly getting worse.

“Southern Cameroons families are currently facing an unprecedented medicine shortage amid the war in Ukraine. I am appealing to all Southern Cameroonians in the West to send money back home to their respective families to help them cope with the sharp rise in drug prices,” Yerima said.

The people of Southern Cameroons will soon run out of medicine to treat patients if urgent action is not taken by the international community, Yerima stated his comments to the Ambazonia war cabinet.

“All the drug stocks in our homeland will run out of medicine soonest, if nothing is done,” Yerima warned

By Isong Asu

France, Belgium and Germany on Friday reported their first cases of monkeypox, joining several other European and North American nations in detecting the disease, endemic in parts of Africa.

Monkeypox was identified in a 29-year-old man in the Ile-de-France region, which includes Paris, who had not recently returned from a country where the virus is circulating, France’s health authorities said Friday.

Separately, the German armed forces’ microbiology institute said it has confirmed the virus in a patient who developed skin lesions — a symptom of the disease.

And in Belgium, microbiologist Emmanuel Andre confirmed in a tweet that the University of Leuven’s lab had confirmed a second of two cases in the country, in a man from the Flemish Brabant.

With the growing number of detected cases in several European countries, Germany’s health agency Robert Koch Institute has urged people returning from West Africa, and in particular gay men, to see their doctors quickly if they notice any chances on their skin.

The rare disease — which is not usually fatal — often manifests itself through fever, muscle aches, swollen lymph nodes, chills, exhaustion and a chickenpox-like rash on the hands and face.

The virus can be transmitted through contact with skin lesions and droplets of a contaminated person, as well as through shared items such as bedding and towels.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has said it was looking closely at the issue and in particular that some of the cases in the UK appeared to have been transmitted within the gay community.

Cases of monkeypox have also been detected in Italy, Portugal, Spain and Sweden as well as in the United States and Canada, leading to fears that the disease — normally concentrated in Central and West Africa — may be spreading.

Monkeypox usually clears up after two to four weeks, according to the WHO.

Source: AFP

Spain’s cabinet on Tuesday approved a bill that grants paid medical leave for women who suffer from severe period pain, becoming the first European country to advance such legislation.

Menstrual leave is currently offered only in a small number of countries across the globe, among them South Korea and Indonesia.

But the proposed legislation must still be approved by the Spanish parliament, with a vote not expected for months.

It was not clear whether Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s minority coalition government, which has made women’s rights a priority, has enough support in the assembly to pass it.

The Spanish bill entitles workers experiencing period pain to as much time off as they need, with the state social security system — not employers — picking up the tab for the sick leave.

As with paid leave for other health reasons, a doctor must approve the temporary medical incapacity.

Equality Minister Irene Montero said the law will recognise a health problem that has been largely swept under the carpet until now.

“Periods will no longer be taboo,” she told a news conference after the cabinet approved the bill.

“We will be the first country in Europe to introduce a temporary sick leave that is fully financed by the state for painful and incapacitating periods,” she added.

“No more going to work with pain, no more taking pills before arriving at work and having to hide the fact we’re in pain that makes us unable to work.”

Montero belongs to the far-left Podemos party, Sanchez’s junior coalition partner which has been the driving force behind the law.

‘Have to be careful’

About a third of women who menstruate suffer from severe pain, according to the Spanish Gynaecology and Obstetrics Society.

Italy in 2016 proposed a bill that would have granted three paid days off to women suffering menstrual pain who obtained medical certificates.

But the draft bill did not progress before the parliamentary term expired in 2018.

Spain’s proposal has divided politicians and even unions, with some saying it could stigmatise women in the workplace and favour the recruitment of men.

“You have to be careful with this type of decision,” said Cristina Antonanzas, deputy secretary general of one of Spain’s largest trade unions, the UGT, warning it could impact “women’s access to the labour market”.

But Spain’s other major trade union, the CCOO, said the proposed measure was “justified” if period pain prevents a woman from working, and called it a major “legislative advance”.

Reproductive health reform

The Spanish legislation is part of a much wider reproductive health reform which will include changes to the country’s abortion laws.

It will end the requirement for minors of 16 and 17 to obtain parental consent before terminating a pregnancy and include measures to boost access to abortion at public hospitals.

The draft bill also calls for the free distribution of contraceptives and menstrual hygiene products in high schools, and strengthens sex education.

“We are advancing feminism. Women should be able to decide freely about their lives,” tweeted Sanchez.

Since he came to power in 2018, women have taken up most cabinet posts for the first time in Spain’s history, taking up top portfolios such as defence, economy and finance.

Spain decriminalised abortion in 1985 in cases of rape, if a foetus is malformed or if a birth poses a serious physical or psychological risk to the mother.

The scope of the law was broadened in 2010 to allow abortion on demand in the first 14 weeks of pregnancy, but access to the procedure is complicated by the fact that many doctors in public hospitals refuse to perform abortions.

Source: AFP

Cameroonian virologist and director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (AfricaCDC), Dr. John Nkengasong, has been confirmed by the US Senate as the country’s Ambassador-at-Large and Coordinator of the United States Government Activities to Combat HIV/AIDS Globally.

The US Department of State confirmed the development in a statement yesterday.

The statement says Nkengasong will “lead, manage, and oversee the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and the US government’s multilateral engagements with the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) through the US State Department’s Office of the US Global AIDS Coordinator and Health Diplomacy.” 

“In this role, Ambassador Nkengasong will continue to work across the US government, together with partner governments, multilateral organizations, civil society, and other partners to accelerate progress on the global HIV/AIDS response, sustain epidemic impact, and contribute to broader global health diplomacy and security for the future,” the statement adds.

Commenting on his appointment, Nkengasong tweeted, “So humbled to have been confirmed by US Senate to lead PEPFAR – a hugely impactful program in saving million of lives with strong bipartisan support in 20 years! Thank you @POTUS and Secretary @ABlinken for the opportunity to serve. HIV/AIDS remains a serious threat globally!”

Source: Newsmakerslive

More than a million children in Ghana, Kenya and Malawi have now received at least one dose of the first anti-malaria vaccine, the World Health Organization said Thursday.

The “breakthrough” RTS,S vaccine was pioneered in Malawi in April 2019 and found to be safe and to substantially reduce severe cases of the disease, the WHO said in a statement ahead of World Malaria Day on April 25.

The WHO recommended the widespread deployment of the vaccine for children living in sub-Saharan Africa and areas at risk in October 2021, and said its pilot scheme could save the lives of between 40,000 and 80,000 children in Africa each year.

“This vaccine is not just a scientific breakthrough, it’s life-changing for families across Africa,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in the statement.

“It demonstrates the power of science and innovation for health. Even so, there is an urgent need to develop more and better tools to save lives and drive progress towards a malaria-free world.”

More than $155 million (143 million euros) have been secured by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance for the delivery of the vaccines, the statement added.

RTS,S, manufactured by British pharmaceutical giant GSK, acts against plasmodium falciparum, the most deadly mosquito-borne parasite around the world and the most prevalent in Africa.

It is a first-generation vaccine and could be complemented by others with similar or higher efficacy in the future, the WHO said.

The organisation welcomed progress in the development of other treatments, too, but said more funding was needed in the fight against malaria — an average of $851 million (785 million euros) per year over the period 2021-2030.

Malaria is an old disease and has been reported since antiquity. It results in fever, headaches and muscle pain before cycles of chills, fever and sweating. It can be fatal if it is not treated in time.

Around 90 percent of the world’s malaria cases are recorded in Africa, where 260,000 children die from the disease each year.

Source: AFP

MANAOUDA Malachie, Minister for Health informed that so far 4,627 cholera cases with 105 deaths have been reported throughout the country, with the greatest impact in the English-speaking regions of Bamenda and Buea.

Cholera was accentuated by the spread of Covid-19. It is a shocking situation in a disturbed state like ours. Cameroon should review its national health policy in case of crisis, he said.

The disease aggravates the situation in the area, which since 2017 has been experiencing a deadly conflict rooted in colonization by the French and British governments, and the two languages that came with it, French and English.

The army is currently fighting separatist forces in the two English-speaking regions in the northwest and southwest of the country, which has suffered from that cause about 3,000 dead and more than 730,000 displaced civilians. To contain cholera, a vaccination campaign was launched on April 8, during which health workers are going door-to-door to encourage people to get vaccinated.

The wells, often contaminated due to lack of hygiene, have also been ordered to be closed.

Culled from PLenglish

The cholera outbreak in Cameroon has escalated in recent weeks with a more than 3.5-fold increase between weeks 10 and 12 (ending 27 March 2022) and with further geographical spread to more regions, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Cameroon began experiencing increasing reports of cholera since 2021 and declared an outbreak in the last week of October 2021.

In the past five months, at total of 3,407 cases and 83 deaths (CFR 2.4%) have been reported. Currently, there are five regions with active outbreaks including Centre, Littoral, North, South, and South-West.

“Cholera has been moving from one district to the next, from maritime districts to the mainland districts,” says Dr Filbert Eko Eko, Public Health Delegate for South-West Region.

“The South West Region is one of the border regions to Nigeria and it’s also facing a humanitarian crises. Trans-border movement is so frequent, and it is difficult to control the movement of people between Nigeria and Cameroon. For this reason, it is also difficult to check their health status. If we could control the trans-border movement, it would be easier for us,” Dr Eko Eko says.

Poor healthcare seeking remains a challenge as many people prefer to get treatment from traditional healers due to the lack of transportation.

Dr Eko Eko says, “The cholera epidemic usually starts during the dry season, which is when there are problems with water. We need to provide potable water to the community. We also need to check their sanitary conditions, especially fecal disposal, while also ensuring that the water they drink is healthy enough.”

In 2021, only sporadic cases were reported for the majority of the year, but cases increased at the end of October (week 43 of 2021).

Source: Outbreaknewstoday

Ambassador Christopher J. Lamora visited Laquintinie Hospital in Douala, accompanied by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Country Director Dr. Emily Kainne Dokubo. In partnership with Cameroon’s Ministry of Public Health, CDC provides care and treatment services through implementing partners in 308 facilities across all 10 regions of the country. Through the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), CDC has supported clinical and laboratory services at Laquintinie Hospital since 2009.  Over the past three years, CDC has invested over $975,000 (588 million FCFA) to strengthen the hospital’s HIV prevention, care, and treatment services for all people living with HIV, including children, adolescents, adults, and key and vulnerable populations.

Laquintinie Hospital recently celebrated its 90th anniversary and now serves as the reference hospital in Littoral Region.  Under the leadership of Professor Noel Essomba, the hospital has approximately 910 beds managed by over 1300 staff, including 46 General Physicians and 113 Specialists, and receives more than 80,000 patients for consultations per year.  Established in 1988, the HIV Treatment Center serves as a model for decentralization of antiretroviral treatment in Cameroon.  Approximately, 5,400 people living with HIV receive treatment through CDC/PEPFAR support.  Also, through PEPFAR, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) supports a continuum of care for key and priority populations and orphans and vulnerable children, and funds procurement and delivery of antiretroviral drugs and HIV laboratory reagents and supplies.  Additionally, USAID supports community-led monitoring to ensure the hospital’s compliance with the government policy to eliminate HIV user fees at service delivery points.

Source: Tdpelmedia

Cameroon’s Minister of Public Health, Malachie Manaouda on Tuesday called for more caution as the cholera death toll in the Central African nation exceeded 100.

In a latest update on the cholera outbreak, Manaouda said in a tweet that 226 new cases and two death cases were reported in the Littoral and Southwest regions between March 23 and April 5.

According to the update, a total of 4,627 confirmed cases have been reported in six regions since October last year, among which were 105 deaths, representing a case fatality rate of 2.3 percent.

The outbreak of cholera in Cameroon has remained persistent, occurring annually but the latest outbreak has been severe, affecting mostly impoverished communities with poor sanitation and lack of clean water, according to health officials.

Cameroon plans to begin a mass vaccination campaign to curb the epidemic, according to officials.

Cholera is a highly virulent disease characterized in its most severe form by a sudden onset of acute watery diarrhea that can lead to death by severe dehydration.

Source: Xinhuanet