On February 26, 2015, Ambassador Michael S. Hoza welcomed over 50 guests at the International Emergency Medicine Symposium hosted by the U.S. Embassy in Yaoundé. Among the 50 participants were ambassadors, senior officials, diplomats, non-government organizations, and health practitioners from Cameroon, Israel, the Republic of Korea, Germany, France, Israel, the Russian Federation, the People's Republic of China, and the United States of America.
U.S. Embassy Medical Attaché James Fulton coordinated symposium with Cameroon and international partners to promote a better understanding of established and new emergency capabilities throughout Cameroon, and to promote unity of efforts to strengthen Cameroon's emergency medical system.
Presenters from many backgrounds shared unique perspectives on the state of emergency medicine in Cameroon and their visions for the future, as well as new developments currently underway in Yaoundé.
Participants explored historical perspectives on emergency care in Cameroon with Dr. Etoundi Mballa from the Ministry of Public Health. Dr. Joonsik Jeong from the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) briefed guests on services by the new Yaoundé Emergency Center and discussed KOICA's plans to improve emergency care in Cameroon. Additionally, Nejib Soussia from the Cameroon Assistance Sanitaire and Ray Kapteyn from the Summer Institute of Linguistics presented capacity briefs on their organizations and their work to evacuate patients from point of injury to the hospitals.
In his remarks at the event, Ambassador Michael S. Hoza commended and encouraged the symposium's participants noting: "It has been said that medicine has no borders, and today's guest list attests to that fact. The sum of all of our efforts is greater than our individual efforts, and I am delighted that so many nations are represented here today with the goal of unifying and strengthening our partnership with Cameroon's health sector."
Dr. Etoundi Mballa from the Ministry of Public Health thanked participants for their support and noted: "Cameroon is pleased to count on the partnership of so many here today and thank the U.S. Embassy for welcoming us, and our partnership for health. Israel and the Republic of Korea were also among our first partners to support enhancing emergency care services and health sector development. I look forward to our discussions today."
This International Emergency Medicine Symposium supports President Obama's vision for the Global Health Initiative (GHI) of fostering sustainable effective, efficient and country-led health programs to achieve significant health improvements in partnership with other nations.
