Cameroon
Where We Work Worldwide
Cameroon
We have been working to support four rural hospitals across the northwest and southwest of Cameroon. The Cameroon Baptist Convention Health Board manages a number of hospitals in the Northwest and Southwest provinces of Cameroon, providing healthcare for the rural population of subsistence farmers and their families. Prof Peter Hesseling and his team have been visiting Cameroon for more than 10 years and have achieved success in raising survival rates for Burkitt lymphoma from zero to 60% in this time.
1,000 children
in Cameroon expected to develop cancer each year
60%
survival rate for Burkitt lymphoma
2
parent support organisations
Programme Information
Programme
Centre
- Banso Baptist Hospital
- Mbingo Baptist Hospital
- Mutengene Baptist Hospital
- Mboppi Baptist Hospital
Twinning
Centre
- Stellenbosch University / Tygerberg Children’s Hospital, South Africa
- Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
Programme
Leads
Dr Francine Kouya
Dr Glenn Mbah
Programme
Mentors
Professor Peter Hesseling from South Africa, Dr Paul Wharin & Dr Peter McCormick, Beryl Thyer Memorial Africa Trust from UK, Rachel Hollis & Dr Susan Picton, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.
Contact
Forbes Sharpe, Programme Manager
Start Date
January 2012
Key Activities
- Increase access to curative and palliative treatments for vulnerable children
- Develop affordable and effective treatment protocols for easily treatable malignancies
- Equip healthcare professionals with the knowledge and skills to provide quality care
- Develop the infrastructure needed to provide childhood cancer treatment
- Improve the support for families provided at the hospitals and at home
Problems
- Increasing demand for paediatric oncology services without adequate facilities
- Easily treatable childhood cancers being diagnosed more regularly as awareness improves but there is a lack of locally appropriate protocols for most tumours
- Lack of trained healthcare professionals to diagnose and treat cancer
- Lack of funding for diagnostic tests and medicines
- Poor accessibility for many children due to distance to the hospitals and poor road infrastructure
- Lack of support for families facing long hospital stays including accommodation, food and income generation
- Low awareness of cancer amongst communities and frontline health workers
- Many families forced to abandon treatment due to long stays from home and catastrophic expenditure
