By Ikome Christie-Noella Eposi in Buea
The Minister of Public Health, Dr. Manaouda Malachie has officially launched the first phase of the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) Voucher for the North West and South West Regions. This took place at the Buea council hall recently and was attended by many government and religious officials. The UHC launched by the government in April 2023 has as objective to drastically reduce the cost of healthcare services for pregnant women, children below five years, HIV and tuberculosis patients.
The Mayor of Buea Council, David Mafani Namange expressed gratitude to the government in general and the Minister of Public Health in particular for the provision of healthcare facilities and making it affordable for the population. Mayor Mafani equally pleaded with the Minister to see into some of the pending projects in Buea. “We will like to use this opportunity like Oliver Twist to appeal to the Head of State through your Excellency the Minister of Public Health to re-launch the construction works on the abandoned Buea Regional Hospital project which was graciously handed to us”.
Dr. Manaouda responded positively to the mayor’s plea in his launching speech and promised to keep the unfinished project in mind. The population was grateful to the powers that be for implementing the UHC, which now enables antenatal consultations, childbirth, and the care of newborn of up to 42 days of birth for just FCFA 6,000. Those on dialysis are not left out, as annual dialysis session now costs FCFA 15,000 instead of FCFA 520,000.
According to the president of Homo dialysis patients in Buea, Arrey Ojong, the Universal Health Coverage voucher extension has brought so much relief and excitement to the entire population and the patients in particular. “The Universal Health Coverage has come to really assist us; in fact, we thank the Head of State for this initiative as well as all of those involved in this UHC. There have been tremendous changes in our lives. At first, we skipped dialysis because of the cost. The cost has been reduced, the cost that we used to pay in a year for FCFA 200,000 and above, has been brought down to FCFA 15,000 and so it’s really assisting us seriously. We no longer skip dialysis and we are now regular”.
After visiting the Buea Regional Hospital, Dr Manaouda Malachie urged every individual including students and parents to spread the good news about the health Voucher. He equally urged Cameroonians to register massively for the UHC plan in order to benefit from the varied number of services offered. He says more than 6 million inhabitants are expected at the enrollment sites, with 7,000 persons registered already.
In April 2023, the Government of Cameroon launched its Universal Health Coverage programme to ensure access to health services while reducing health-related out-of-pocket expenses. The UHC programme marks a critical step in helping vulnerable populations, including people living with HIV, children between 0-5 years, pregnant women, plus newborn up to 42 days of life, tuberculosis treatment etc to access affordable, quality health care. Whereas previously only antiretroviral and HIV had been free, Cameroonians can now access a range of key health-care services at public health facilities for free.
This document provides an overview of Cameroon’s journey towards achieving UHC and the support provided by Management Science of Health (MSH), through the U.S. Agency for International Development USAID RISE project, to achieve key milestones in the journey toward UHC.