Cameroon is currently plagued by viral conjunctivitis with the capital of Yaounde particularly affected, the country’s health authorities said on Sunday.

“A suspected epidemic of conjunctivitis is currently occurring in our country, with clusters in schools,” Minister of Public Health Manaouda Malachie said.

“I recommend that you observe public health measures and, above all, avoid rubbing your eyes with your hands. In case of complications, go to the hospital,” the minister added.

Ophthalmologists in the country have urged people to take hygienic measures such as washing hands with soap and water after treatment and applying cold compresses to the eyes.

Conjunctivitis, or pink eye, is an irritation or inflammation of the conjunctiva, which covers the white part of the eyeball. It is caused by allergies or bacterial or viral infections.

It can be highly contagious and is spread by contact with the eye secretions of an infected person. Symptoms of the disease include redness, itching, and tearing of the eyes. It can also cause discharge or crusting around the eyes.

Source: Xinhuanet

The number of people under 50 diagnosed with cancer has surged worldwide in the last three decades but it is not fully clear why, a study said on Wednesday.

Cases of cancer among people aged 14 to 49 rose by nearly 80 percent, from 1.82 million to 3.26 million, between 1990 to 2019, according to the study published in the journal BMJ Oncology.

While experts cautioned that some of that increase was explained by population growth, previous research has also indicated that cancer is becoming more commonly diagnosed among under-50s.

The international team of researchers behind the new study pointed to poor diet, smoking and alcohol as major risk factors underlying cancer in the age group.

But “the increasing trend of early-onset cancer burden is still unclear,” they added.

A little over one million people under 50 died of cancer in 2019, up 28 percent from 1990, the study said.

The deadliest cancers were breast, windpipe, lung, bowel and stomach cancers, according to the study.

Breast cancer was the most commonly diagnosed over the three decades.

But the cancers that rose the fastest were of the nasopharynx, where the back of the nose meets the top of the throat, and prostate.

Liver cancer meanwhile fell by 2.9 percent a year.

– Causes remain ‘elusive’ –

The researchers used data from the 2019 Global Burden of Disease Study, analysing the rates of 29 different cancers in 204 countries.

The more developed the country, the more likely it was to have a higher rate of under-50s diagnosed with cancer, the study said.

This could suggest that wealthier countries with better healthcare systems catch cancer earlier, but only a few nations screen for certain cancers in people under 50, the study added.

As well as poor diet, smoking and drinking, genetic factors, physical inactivity and obesity could also contribute to the trend, the study said.

Modelling predicted that the number of global cancer cases in under 50s will rise a further 31 percent by 2030, mostly among people aged 40-49.

The researchers acknowledged that cancer data from different countries varied greatly, with developing nations potentially under-reporting cases and deaths.

Experts not involved in the study said the slower increase in deaths compared to cases was likely due to improvements in early detection and treatment.

Dorothy Bennett, a researcher at the University of London, pointed out that the world’s population grew by roughly 46 percent between 1990 and 2019, accounting for some of the increasing cases.

Two doctors at Queen’s University Belfast, Ashleigh Hamilton and Helen Coleman, said it was “crucial” to work out what was behind the increasing cases.

“Full understanding of the reasons driving the observed trends remains elusive, although lifestyle factors are likely contributing, and novel areas of research such as antibiotic usage, the gut microbiome, outdoor air pollution and early life exposures are being explored,” they said in an editorial linked to the study.

Source: AFP

Cameroon has made “remarkable” strides in the prevention and control of HIV/AIDS, a United Nations official said on Tuesday.

Winnie Byanyima, executive director of the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), made the remarks after meeting Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute in Yaoundé.

“Cameroon has been succeeding in fighting against HIV/AIDS in the last 10 to 12 years, bringing down infections by more than 60 percent,” Byanyima said.

Despite the encouraging strides, there are still challenges, and efforts, especially in stopping mother to child infection and keeping children on treatment, need to be stepped up to keep the infection rate lower, she said.

There is an “ambitious plan to roll out universal secondary education so that girls are safe at school and not infected,” she added.

The HIV prevalence rate in Cameroon dropped from 3.3 percent in 2020 to 2.7 percent last year, according to the Ministry of Public Health.

Source: Xinhuanet

Cameroon on Wednesday launched a five-day vaccination campaign targeting children amid an outbreak of measles and rubella.

Out of Cameroon’s 200 health districts, 99 have reported cases of measles affecting children below 10 years old, said Shalom Ndoula, permanent secretary of Expanded Immunization Program in the Ministry of Public Health.

“In Cameroon the disease has affected more than 4,000 children with 18 deaths so far and that is a worrying situation,” Ndoula told reporters in the capital city of Yaoundé.

“It is a nationwide campaign, but the targeted children are children from nine months to five years that are the most affected by the measles outbreak.” he added.

According to the program, about 5.5 million children will be vaccinated in Cameroon.

Signs and symptoms of the disease include fever, rash, cough, red eyes and runny nose, said officials, warning that measles complications are severe in malnourished children and infants under two years of age.  

Source: Xinhuanet

A variety of cough syrup suspected by Cameroonian authorities of killing a dozen children in the central African country in recent months bears markings indicating it was made in India.

Photographs of a box of Naturcold medication show a manufacturing license number matching that of Riemann Labs Pvt. Ltd., based in Indore in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. The photos, provided by Eko Eko Filbert, a regional health official in Cameroon, don’t show a manufacturer’s name.

The drugs in the photo “look like ours,” said a director at Riemann, Navin Bhatia, in a phone interview. He said Riemann follows strict quality controls and couldn’t have made tainted medicine, and that counterfeiting is common.

The revelation raises the prospect of a third mass death event linked to exported Indian cough syrups in less than a year. Medicines from two other Indian companies killed more than 60 children in Gambia and about 20 in Uzbekistan last year. In those cases, the syrup medications were found to have been contaminated with two toxic chemicals, ethylene glycol and diethylene glycol. Two more Indian companies are suspected of making similarly tainted syrups found in Liberia and in the Marshall Island.

“Based on your questions, we have sent a team to investigate and we are waiting for the reports,” an official at the Madhya Pradesh Food and Drugs Administration told Bloomberg.

The Cameroonian authorities are still investigating the cause of the outbreak and plan to test the Naturcold samples connected to the deaths, Filbert said in a text message on June 5. The death toll stood at 12 children as of that date, he said.

Filbert said the medicine was not authorized to be imported into Cameroon and was probably smuggled into the country. He said authorities don’t have information about the drugs’ origin.

According to the product label visible in the photos, the bottle of cough syrup was made in March 2022. It bears the name and logo of Fraken International, a marketing company with a UK address. Attempts to reach people at that address by email and LinkedIn messages were unsuccessful.

Bhatia said that Riemann last produced a batch of Naturcold under contract for Fraken in early 2022 and provided it to an exporter who reported sending it to Cameroon. Riemann is one of several Indian companies that have made the product, he said.

Propylene glycol and glycerin are key raw materials for syrups. Riemann buys these chemicals only in sealed containers from name-brand manufacturers, and then hires a third-party lab to test them prior to use, Bhatia said.

“We pay extra attention to quality,” he said. “Everything is done to ensure safety.”

Duplicacy, a term for when a drug is disguised to look like another company’s product, is common in some parts of Africa, Bhatia said.

“They look like ours, but we cannot be sure. There is so much duplicacy there. Based on the quality of our product, it is doubtful,” he said. “I am 110% sure that my product is not contaminated — what we sent from here.”

Culled from Bloomberg

A further 26 people have died in Cameroon’s ongoing cholera outbreak in the past two weeks, taking the overall death toll to 426, a health ministry official said on Thursday.

The outbreak was declared in October 2021 and has seen a strong increase in cases since late March of this year after a period of low transmission, according to the World Health Organization.

The number of confirmed cases in Cameroon now stands at 1,868, said ministry official Linda Esso.

Cholera can cause acute diarrhoea, vomiting and weakness and is mainly spread by contaminated food or water. It can kill within hours if untreated. Fourteen African countries have reported cases since the start of 2023, the WHO said in a report on Thursday.

It said it was particularly concerned as many countries were reporting higher case fatality ratios than in previous years.

In Cameroon, “more than 79% of cases reach health facilities in a moderate or severe state,” increasing the chances of the cases proving fatal, the health ministry said in situation report, seen by Reuters.

Source: Reuters

The King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSrelief) continued to implement a voluntary surgical program in Cameroon, which has so far examined more than 500 cases in different clinics.

The campaign runs from May 20 to May 31, 2023, in cooperation with Al-Baslam International Organization. Since the start of the campaign, the volunteer medical team of the KSrelief has examined 532 cases in different clinics.

KSrelief also hosted in Riyadh on Sunday the European Union Special Representative for the Horn of Africa, Annette Weber, and her accompanying delegation.

During the meeting they discussed concerns related to humanitarian and relief affairs. They also discussed ways to support humanitarian work in the Horn of Africa region.

Elsewhere, KSrelief continued implementing a project to enhance health care services for Syrian refugees and the host communities in Akkar Governorate, Lebanon.

During April 2023, 822 patients were received, and 1,464 services were provided across various clinics.

In Tajikistan, shelter aid, including blankets, heating coal and water heaters in the districts of Temurmalik, Baljuvon, Khatlon and Tojikopod, benefiting 330 individuals from the neediest groups.

Source: Arab News

Cameroon’s Ministry of Public Health said on Sunday that measles cases in the country have risen to 4677, with 18 deaths recorded.

“The epidemiological situation of measles is becoming worrisome. A situation explained by inadequate vaccine coverage for the past few years, rising numbers of unvaccinated children resulting in, in part, vaccine hesitancy caused by Covid-19,” the ministry said in a statement.

To avoid the spread of the disease, a national vaccination campaign against measles and rubella will be organized from June 28 to July 2, according to the ministry.

Signs and symptoms include fever, rash, cough, red eyes, and runny nose, said officials, warning that measles complications are severe in malnourished children and infants less than two years of age.

Source: Xinhuanet

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared that Covid-19 no longer represents a “global health emergency”.

The statement represents a major step towards ending the pandemic and comes three years after it first declared its highest level of alert over the virus.

Officials said the virus’ death rate had dropped from a peak of more than 100,000 people per week in January 2021 to just over 3,500 on 24 April.

The head of the WHO said at least seven million people died in the pandemic.

But Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that the true figure was “likely” closer to 20 million deaths – nearly three times the official estimate – and he warned that the virus remained a significant threat.

“Yesterday, the Emergency Committee met for the 15th time and recommended to me that I declare an end to the public health emergency of international concern. I’ve accepted that advice. It’s therefore with great hope that I declare COVID-19 over as a global health emergency,” Dr Tedros said.

Source: BBC

More children have died in Cameroon after consuming a fake cough syrup, health authorities have revealed.

The deadly fake medicine is branded “Naturcold”, purportedly made by a company named “Fraken Group”, the regional delegate for public health in Northwest Province, Dr Kingsley Che Soh said.

The drug caused fatal kidney failure in six children in the Northwest region, all were under the age of five.

In March, health officials in Southwest Cameroon said three children died from consuming the same fake medicine.

The Directorate of Pharmacy, Drugs and Laboratories at the Ministry of Public Health, Dr Eko Eko warned the drug contained two dangerous ingredients that caused the death of the children.

Their families are said to have bought the drugs along the roadside from unauthorised dealers. These unlicensed dealers often move around selling the medication door-to-door, or out of boxes in markets.

Street dealers

Dr Kingsley Che Soh has warned the population to avoid consuming the product and stay away from drugs sold along the roadside as it may be dangerous to health.

At markets, and other public places, many unlicensed medicine stores operate under the watchful eyes of the government, yet they lack basic documents authorising them to do so.

Drugs displayed  in Cameroon’s national capital Yaoundé

Alex Efiti, who lives in Douala, says it is easy for him to buy drugs along the roadside because it is cheap and accessible.

“Drugs are very expensive in pharmacies. It is not my level. I prefer buying from the guys who move around with it because I trust them and they are cheap”, he said.

Asked about the dangers of consuming these fake drugs, Alex said he has been consuming street medication for years and it has not affected him negatively.

Many believe in these medicine dealers, despite the news of the children’s deaths.

“My aunt got so mad at me for buying her drug at the pharmacy. She wanted me to get it from her usual drug dealer,” said another customer called Samira. “When I tried to tell her it was dangerous, she kept asking me why has it not killed her.”

Deaths

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime warns that fake medical products kill almost half a million sub-Saharan Africans every year.

Its new threat assessment report says as many as 267,000 deaths per year are recorded in Sub-Saharan Africa, all linked to falsified and substandard antimalarial medicines.

“In addition, up to 169,271 are linked to falsified and substandard antibiotics used to treat severe pneumonia in children”, it added.

The government of Cameroon has made some strides in stopping the circulation of fake drugs, yet the population is still exposed to them.

Sources say the majority of fake drugs  are smuggled into the country from neighbouring countries through porous border control. Cameroon made a series of arrests last year related to illicit drug circulation.

Punished

Running an unlicensed pharmacy in Cameroon is illegal.

The same law prohibits the display and distribution of drugs on the public road, in fairs or markets. It further forbids even those with a degree in pharmacy to sell drugs by the roadside.

Anyone  selling fake or expired drugs, or intends to sell a fake drug, altered or harmful to human health, can be punished with a jail sentence of up to three years and a fine of up to 3,000,000 CFA francs.

Despite all these laws, the fake drug stores continue to operate in complicity with health agents, forces of law and order and the population. People even sometimes refuse to point out these dealers when health operators carry out controls.

Government Health Minister Manaouda Malachie announced last year his ministry was working on the creation of a national agency for medicines, that will regulate the drug market and strengthen the fight against street drugs.

Source: Humangle