Unite For Health Launches telemedicine in Cameroon’s COVID-19 crisis

Cameroon’s healthcare system is going through a challenging moment as the number of cases of COVID-19 keeps rising with the recent figures now above 5000 confirmed cases. As many are dying from this pandemic, panic and fear are increasing among the population. Families suffer from the pain of not being able to bury their loved ones who die from COVID-19 dues to burial restrictions and conditions imposed by the government. There have been a number of incidences where families are seen protesting in the hospital that their relatives died from negligence and stigmatization and not COVID-19. This has compounded the problem of access to healthcare during this period. There is a huge decline in the number of people visiting hospitals or clinics to consult for their health problems. At Unite for Health, we have seen a drastic decline in patient turn over in all our three micro-clinics. Pregnant women who were enrolled for Prenatal care are not regular for their routine medical checks. Statistical evidence shows that during the Ebola outbreak in West Africa that we lost more people to malaria than we lost to Ebola. Let us not repeat that with COVID-19. That is why we have decided to launch a telemedicine program at Unite For Health Foundation in order to permit those in the communities that we serve to be able to use their phone and reach out to us either through direct phone call or video calls to consult with our doctors and get the best of advice on what to do about their health. Our first intention is to also health screen and educate patients on COVID-19. Fortunately, most households in Cameroon have a mobile phone these days. We shall be launching this program in Bamenda in the North West region of Cameroon where we have one of our health facilities and it shall go operational in all our three micro-clinics. Patients in Bamenda can call this number either directly or through WhatsApp video call between 8 am – 6 pm from Mondays to Saturdays. Contacts: Bamenda: +237 651414893 Bonamoussadi – Yaounde: +237 672 020 339 Eloumden-Mbankomo: +237 681 821 944 We do not want to let the COVID-19 emergency separate pregnant women, mothers, and children from our urgent, life-saving medical care or disease prevention programs. Both are absolutely critical to the public health of thousands of Cameroonians. Unite for Health Foundation is a non-profit organization operating in Cameroon since 2007 and its mission is to combat infant mortality and fight infectious and non-infectious diseases by building micro-clinics that provide affordable healthcare and health education for people in remote, underserved African communities. The post-Unite For Health Launches telemedicine in Cameroon’s COVID-19 crisis appeared first on TeboPost.