BY NDUMBE BELL JOSEPH GASTON IN DOUALA
One of Cameroon’s major mobile telephonies, Orange Cameroon through its’ foundation organised a medicare and medicaid caravan for the resetteled people of Gouache at Latsit and Bameka in the West Region and also Kiki in the Centre Region.
The healthcare caravan which engaged the direct participation of the Managing Director Patrick Benon who is also the Board Chair of Orange Foundation, started on May 12 and continued on May 13.
It included the administrative and traditional authorities who witnessed the humanitarian or philanthropic activities to bring solace to underprivileged communities and to support the nation’s health system.
Since 2009, the Foundation’s readout states that they have invested up till now, almost FCFA 900 million as part of their social responsibility in the nation’s health system.
At the recently inaugurated Latsit Integrated Health Centre that was planned for Friday May 12, 2023, the Foundation injected a total of FCFA 55 million to make it become operational. The donations in equipment and materials is expected to activate the operations of primary health care especially in material and child protection, vaccinations, infectious diseases and other endemic care such as malaria and other awareness campaigns. There is also a drinking water supply point.
The caravan also made a stop at Bameka Integrated Health Centre which is said to be especially devoted to the health of mothers and children aged 0-5. According to an estimate the foundation commented on the decline of maternal mortality rate despite an annual loss of life of 4,000 women at the time they give birth.
In response to the request of the health centre to reinforce their unit, the foundation supplied equipment such as a haematology device, delivery box, episiotomy box, cradles, solar incubator, doppler, hospital beds, mattresses and poupinel all amounting to the value of FCFA 6,5 million.
As part of the foundation’s objective to mitigate infant mortality rate in Cameroon of which statistics sourced from the Demographic Health Survey states that 22,000 new-borns die yearly at the rate of 28 deaths per 1000 live births, the caravan went to Kiki District medical Centre in the Centre region where the centre’s area of specialisation is infant mortality.
This is reported to be the foundation’s second visit to improve neonatal care through health facilities. A donation which is reported to be valued at FCFA 6 million was injected to strengthen the neonatology service of the district medical service. It is also equipped with an oxygen extractor, a solar incubator and a radiant table.
According to Orange Cameroon, aside from investing in the health sector, the foundation is also an accelerator in the provision of basic infrastructure in the domains of education (schools) water supply points, solar power plants, etc.