Flying medics are the only hope

When someone falls ill in one of the villages of the Zina district they have hardly any chance to receive medical care locally.

Around 500,000 people find themselves in this unfortu-nate position. In this region, which is amongst the poorest in Cameroon, medi-cal facilities can only be found in three villages – and in these the most elementary infrastructure is missing: there are no sanitary installations, no treatment facilities, no medicines. In addition, the medical centres are too far away or are inaccessible during the rainy season.

The “Arams” organisation approached IPA for help. Its objective was to sup-port the vil-lagers of this flood-prone region in terms of health and education. Arams’ doctors are from this region and know the problems of the local population. In order to offer medical care and health education, teams of doctors and nurses drove to five villages in the region. The project cost about CHF 27,400.

Arams contributed CHF 9,700 to the costs in terms of labour, i.e. the medical staff worked without pay, paid for their own meals and contributed a significant amount of cash. The villages themselves contributed a value of around CHF 800. They provided the furnitureand water for the consultation room, for example, and offered lodgings for the medical staff. The major financial contribution of CHF 16,900 came from a private Swiss donor.

The campaign was a huge success: Each village was visited by a medical team on two days, and a total of 2,671 people were treated, with drugs being dispensed free of charge, too. In addition, the doctors and nurses conducted a health education campaign, providing information on a wide range of prevalent illnesses and health risks. The people in the area suffer mainly from tape worm, malaria, bacterial dysentery and other illnesses caused by parasites. Women often suffer from abdominal illnesses. In addition, blindness and visual impairment are widespread.

The staff was literally swamped by patients. In order to control the rush, people first had to be calmed down and asked to form a line. “The need for medical care is huge”, IPA’s managing director Nicole Delavy observed once again. It can only be hoped that other (Swiss) sponsors can be found to continue this exemplary pilot project.