Report reveals most primary healthcare centres in Cameroon lack basic necessities.

It is part of the implementation of COVID-19 Transparency and Accountability Project, CTAP.

The results of the findings carried out in some 19 primary healthcare centres concerned showed that 21% operate without access to water and use rainwater or water from nearby wells.

It also revealed that 42.1% do not have access to drinking water, 31.57% operate without an alternative source of electricity, which exposes them to the instability of the region's electricity network and 15.18% of the primary healthcare services operate with single toilets for men and women.

It further revealed that 10.52% operate without a laboratory while the centres that have laboratories, do not have advanced equipment.

With 21% said to be operating without doctors, 42.1% of the centres are without pharmaceutical fridge and 52.63% have not received consignment of the COVID-19 vaccine for distribution.

Speaking to the press, ADE’s Executive Director, Ndi Nancy Saiboh, who doubles as CTAP Cameroon Lead, said these shortages and lack are being witnessed in primary healthcare centres in spite of existing laws and regulations for them to have for their smooth functioning.

“We noticed that some regions have similar difficulties while some have peculiar challenges. Some of the primary healthcare services don’t have light or refrigerators to store vaccines,” Ndi Saiboh said.

“We know that the government had launched a campaign for citizens to take the COVID-19 vaccines and the population are still reluctant to take the vaccines,” she stated, adding that “we also discovered that most citizens prefer street drugs than getting them at the pharmacies because of the prices”.

In a bid to tackle this, the CTAP Cameroon Lead recommended government should ensure that drugs sold at the grass root communities which are more expose during pandemic, be reduced or subsidized.

“We have to start preparing them in case of future pandemic. Primary services should be able to have all they need to function as primary healthcare services,” Ndi Saiboh added.

On his part, the CTAP Cameroon Project Manager, Lionel Mboussi, underscored the importance of citizen participation in policy making.

“In the formulation of public policies, citizen’s participation is very important. Public policies are formulated for the population and it is important that the needs and challenges they face are adapted when formulating policies,” Mboussi said.

He added that “We think that within the context of decentralisation, this citizen participation will be effective and municipal executives will take the move to involve the population when making policies especially at the regional level”.

It should be recalled that Cameroon, through the Health Sector Strategy 2016-2027 document of the Ministry of Public Health, promotes universal health coverage and the development of human capital in the development and implementation of its health policy.

However, these policies are said to be struggling to take shape on the field due to access to modern healthcare in approved centers is conditioned by a financial contribution from households. Despite this household funding, which excludes vulnerable groups from access to care, health structures in some regions are lagging far behind in terms of equipment.