Cameroon on Wednesday effectively started charging for polymerase chain reaction COVID-19 test, according to the country’s Minister of Public Health Malachie Manaouda.

Manaouda said Tuesday that the test will now cost 30,000 xaf (approximately 48 U.S. dollars).

Payment will be effected through a platform for the dematerialization of public receipts, but also on physical sites allowing the generation of a unique code and a receipt, he said.

The officials did not explain why the test that was previously free of charge will now be paid for.

As of May 11, Cameroon had 119,947 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 1,930 deaths. And 11 percent of the target population had received at least one vaccine dose, according to the Ministry of Public Health.

Source: Xinhuanet

The United Nations has approved the allocation of 1.7 million U.S. dollars from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to support the urgent response to the cholera outbreak in Cameroon, UN officials in Cameroon said in a statement on Tuesday.

“This CERF grant will enable the humanitarian partners to contribute to reducing cholera-related mortality and curb the spread of the disease, saving numerous lives,” said Olivier Beer, the Humanitarian Coordinator ad interim for Cameroon.

“The humanitarian actors are mobilized to support the cholera response. However, access to remote areas remains challenging as violence, movements impediments and poor condition of roads continue to hamper the humanitarian assistance in the region,” added Karen Perrin, the Head of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Cameroon.

The project will provide emergency assistance in case management, water, hygiene, and sanitation to communities affected by the cholera epidemic in the Southwest and Littoral regions of the country, according to the UN.

As of May 29, Cameroon’s Ministry of Public Health had recorded 8,241 cases and 154 deaths in seven regions.

The Southwest region, which is already facing acute humanitarian needs due to violence, remains the most affected by the cholera outbreak with 5,628 cases and 90 deaths, followed by the Littoral with 2,208 cases and 58 deaths, the UN said.

Source: Xinhuanet

More than 150 people have died during a resurgence of cholera in Cameroon over the last eight months, the United Nations said on Monday.

“The health ministry registered 8,241 cases and 154 deaths,” to the end of May, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said.

Seven of the West African nation’s 10 regions have reported cholera cases.

The worst-hit is the English-speaking Southwest with 5,628 cases and 90 deaths, followed by the Littoral with 2,208 cases and 58 deaths, OCHA said.

Access to the Southwest “remains difficult” after years of violence between anglophone separatists and the army, said OCHA’s Cameroon office head Karen Perrin.

Cholera is an acute diarrhoeal disease that is treatable with antibiotics and hydration but can kill within hours if left untreated.

Outbreaks occur periodically in Cameroon, which has a population of more than 25 million. The last epidemic occurred between January and August 2020, when 66 people died.

According ot the World Health Organization, researchers estimate that each year there are between 1.3 million and 4.0 million cases of cholera worldwide, leading to between 21 000-143 000 deaths.

Source: AFP

A new study by Cameroon’s Ministry of Public Health has revealed that the Central African nation has witnessed a remarkable drop in new HIV/AIDS infections.

The study was presented on Tuesday in the capital, Yaounde during a meeting to evaluate strides made to combat the epidemic in the country.

According to the 18-month study, 3.5 million HIV tests were carried out since January last year and 93,000 people were confirmed positive with the South Region having the highest number of confirmed cases.

Zoung-Kanyi Bissek, a senior official at the public health ministry said the results indicated a drop in prevalence from 3.3 percent in 2020 to 2.7 percent this year.

“This shows that the strategies put in place are well on course and are recording positive results. In those strategies, women and children are particularly targeted,” Bissek told reporters.

Source: Xinhuanet

The news of the burning of the Manyu District hospital has hit many Cameroonians like a ton of bricks and many are asking many questions. What could have pushed anybody to burn down a hospital that is serving more than forty thousand inhabitants of the town of Mamfe and its environs?

From the first analysis made by the Cameroon Concord News Group’s correspondent in Mamfe who has visited the ruined buildings, it is evident that gasoline was used in the burning down of up to ten wards of the hospital.

“This is a coordinated act. How was this gasoline transported to the hospital when there are multiple checkpoints in and around Mamfe, the capital city of Manyu Division? There is a checkpoint in Mile One, there is another checkpoint opposite the hospital and there is a huge army camp in Besongabang, some two kilometers away from the hospital. How come none of the soldiers saw anything?” Our correspondent in Mamfe asked.

“I have been talking to many people around town and they say they saw soldiers heading in that direction yesterday at about 9pm Mamfe time and after they got into the hospital, there was a massive exchange of gunfire which sent the residents of the town to deck for cover in their homes, especially those living opposite the hospital. The military has to answer for this and there is nothing that will convince the people of Mamfe that the military is innocent,” our correspondent said.

“The government must launch a massive and transparent investigation and the investigators must talk with the people of Manyu Division if the facts must come out. There are many people who know the truth, but they are scared of talking. It is alleged that two French-speaking military officials had been seen in the day ferrying fuel from place to place, but the population thought nothing of it. The people of Mamfe thought it was the military and that the soldier might be travelling overnight, so they need extra fuel for their trip. These military officials must be investigated,” he said.

“There is much talking in Mamfe that the military thinks that carrying out such acts of violence and irresponsibility will intimidate the population into disconnecting from the rebellion. But this act is certainly going to be counter-productive. The people of Mamfe are angry both with the military and Amba fighters who do not have the capacity to undertake such a massive operation. I have called one of the Amba soldiers in Nchang, some three kilometers from the hospital, and he has stressed that they had not carried out any operations in that area. I have also talked with Amba generals in Mfuni and Ossing and they have also said that they cannot be destroying a hospital that is helping their own people. They have clearly pointed an accusing finger at the military, adding that how could that have happened when the military is directly opposite the hospital. There are many military checkpoints in Mamfe, and it is surprising that such an elaborate scheme can be implemented without the knowledge of the military,” he stressed.

“I am still investigating, but there is a lot of tension out here. The military seems to be hiding something. Our traditional chiefs must come together to produce a joint statement that will soothe the minds of our people. The people are angry, and they want the military to pay for its crime. Chief Oben, the Paramount Chief of Mamfe, has been seen this morning and he is clearly disappointed with the situation. He was a chief medical officer of this hospital before retiring and he did a great job renovating the hospital. The people are looking up to him for a fund-raising event that can result in the mobilization of massive resources to rebuild the hospital,” he underscored.

Meanwhile, sources in Yaoundé have indicated that the government is aware that there are many military officials who want the struggle to continue because they are making huge gains from the people’s suffering. The source, which spoke on condition of anonymity, said that the government is currently watching some army officials who are being suspected of stoking the fires in Southern Cameroons.

“The government is aware of the malicious intentions of some of its military officials who want the crisis to continue because the situation is helping them to live like maggots in bacons in Yaoundé. The government has not yet had enough probable cause to arrest them, but undercover agents are working very hard to uncover the secret plots put in place by these ignoble characters who are causing the country to continue to bleed. It is a matter of time. They will be unmasked,” the source said. 

Meanwhile the Cameroon Concord News Group is calling on Manyu sons and daughters to organize fundraisers so that the hospital can be rebuilt in a very short period of time. While it is the government’s responsibility, the Board of Directors of the Cameroon Concord News Group holds that if the people of Manyu Division can come with lots of money, the government will be obliged to cave in and avoid the long procurement procedures that may delay things. 

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai

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