Health Fair in Cameroon

Organized in the city of Dschang, a free health campaign in March 2023 was hosted in partnership with LECUDO-USA. This initiative consisted of two key components: a three-day health fair and a 90-day monitoring program. 

Over the course of the three-day health fair, about 950 people received treatment despite the difficult transportation challenges. The fair offered a wide range of services, including eye care, mental health care, cancer screening, dental care, and various surgical procedures. Illnesses diagnosed during this period ranged from more chronic diseases such as diabetes and epilepsy, to endemic diseases such as malaria and typhoid. 

Following the successful health fair was a 90-day monitoring program, designed to provide deeper, more intensive care to patients who originally benefitted from the three-day clinic. The program also included post-surgical patients and patients with mental health issues. Spanning from May to July, our follow-up program was located across various locations, such as Mary Health of Africa Hospital Fontem, Fiangep Polyclinic Dschang, and Buea. Patients were given a wide range of activities, including drug refills, free medication deliveries, health education, biweekly monitoring, and free consultation. 

To increase accessibility to healthcare services and resources, home visits were routinely carried out to check on the patients and provide medications and refill prescriptions. During these visits, we recorded vital signs such as blood pressure, and patients were asked questions to monitor and evaluate the efficacy of the medications and treatments they were receiving. Additionally, patients were also given brief counselling sessions. These were designed to help patients understand their conditions as well as to emphasize the importance of keeping consistent with their medications. Compliance issues with medications and treatments were identified as well, most often being seen as insufficient finances due to a lack of jobs.

Throughout the campaign, flexibility was a common theme, however various challenges still arose along the way. Manageability was a major challenge, particularly as some patients were located in high-crisis areas, causing them to be more difficult to reach. Unfortunately, medications were not always able to be personally delivered, which meant we were often forced to rely on bus services or entrust them to patients’ relatives for distribution. Communication presented challenges as well. Not everyone was available during specific dates, and it could take a week to actually get in touch for booking an appointment due to unstable networks. This often led to lost follow-ups for some clients. Additionally, many medications took a long time to arrive, and a few patients left the clinic without the medicine they needed due to a delay in funding. Lastly, the figures for diseases had a noticeable pattern of reduction, attributed to the movement of people from place to place. This brought on additional challenges in tracking chronic diseases. 

At the end of the health campaign, several medications, such as antibiotics, were still readily in stock. About twelve hundred patients were consulted in Mary Health of Africa Fontem and Fiangep Polyclinic Dschang, only a starting point to build upon for future health fairs! We would like to give a special thanks to Ms. Asonganyi Blessing, Dr Asonganyi Etienne, Dr. Atemlefac Asong, and Mr. Fobella. 

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