Life First!

Minds are still fresh on the recently commissioned Yaounde Emergency Centre by the Prime Minister, Head of Government, Philemon Yang; an act considered to be a veritable panacea for the country’s health care system.

Barely six or seven months after the inauguration of the centre, the country has been boiling with anger following the series of unfortunate incidents that occurred in some of the public hospitals in the country leading to loss of human lives. The Minister of Public Health in an administrative notice observed that the said incidents have led to a “strong degradation of the image of the Public Hospitals and the medical corps.”

The public hospital, he says is now portrayed as a “hostile environment” characterised by poor reception of patients, delays and failures in the management of patients, extortion and diversion of patients and lack of compassion for patients.

This package of behavioural patterns is a gross violation of the Hippocratic Oath taken by medics themselves on graduation and goes contrary to the aspirations of the Head of State. Health, everyone knows, is in the centre of development. This explains why it occupies an important position on the President’s Emergency Programme which has earmarked the construction of hospitals of reference in the headquarters of all the ten regions of the country.

The construction of sophisticated health structures is one thing but putting into effective use of these structures is another. That, in effect, is where the problem lies. Almost all major hospitals in the country possess emergency health departments but many do not fully perform the services worthy of the name. The majority are ill equipped, lack qualified staff and adequate health care.

The consequences have been quite telling with many deaths recorded. Cases abound where patients needing emergency care end up in the mortuary simply because they were unable to provide the necessary finances for admission. Many of them prioritise money and sometimes when the patient’s relations struggle and provide the needed charges, the situation of the patient is gone beyond repairs.

The case abounds of a gentleman of Mbororo extraction who refused settling hospital bill after losing his patient because of delay in treatment on monetary exigency. Inhuman treatment of patients in government hospitals is a well known fact. The Minister of Public Health himself is aware and this explains why he has dished out serious instructions hammering on five major points: management of patients, access and security, communication and auditing/evaluation. “In case of life emergency, management must be immediate and without prior payment”, he said.

It is rather unfortunate that the country working towards emergence should reach this stage but it would appear, Cameroon is being paid in its own coin, The instructions of the Minister is just one spotty attempt at rescuing a situation that has degenerated to its lowest ebb. Many factors are responsible for this situation. The first one is that people who do not have a calling are allowed into the profession.

The second problem is that hospitals and other health centres are not provided with enough necessary equipment to take care of emergencies; few or no incubators, oxygen, blood bank, and even syringes. In the face of this, it becomes difficult for the medics on seat who are willing to safe life to operate. But this does not however prevent him or her from exercising some medical care because it is a life-saving issue.