Health Minister visits maternities

André Mama Fouda and other dignitaries visited some delivery wards yesterday, June 21, 2016 in Yaounde.

All pregnancies can be complicated and for a pregnancy not to be complicated, the woman needs to prepare for delivery by going to a hospital, consult and deliver with the assistance of qualified health personnel.

It is within this backdrop that the Minister of Public Health, André Mama Fouda and the Country Representative of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Dr Barbara Sow, yesterday June 21, 2016, visited some maternities in Yaounde not only to encourage women to carry out proper prenatal care but also to showcase Cameroon’s equipment and manpower ensuring the necessary healthcare to Cameroonian women and children.

The minister’s tour falls in line with the United Nations Maternal and Neonatal week set aside to sensitise the population on the necessities for prenatal care, child delivery in the hands of qualified health personnel as well as the need to go to a hospital when a woman or child has a health problem.

The first lap of the minister and his entourage was at the Biyem-Assi Health District in the Yaounde VI sub-division which has consulted some 3214 women at its gynaecology unit between January and May this year.

According to the Director of the hospital Dr. Joseph Essama, since the beginning of this year, some 1112 women have given birth in the hospital; 137 went through a caesarean section with 50 of them died due to birth-related problems.

Besides handing over some maternity kits to the hospital, Minister André Mama Fouda and entourage visited mothers and newborn babies in their wards.

Next stop was at the Cité-Verte District Hospital, where dignitaries also took time to visit the maternity. At the Yaounde Gynaecological, Obstetrics and Pediatrics Hospital, dignitaries did not only visit the maternal and pediatric unit which are one of the largest in terms of capacity in Yaounde and also inaugurated a unit created for adolescent health-related issues.

The General Manager of Gynaecological, Obstetrics and Pediatrics Hospital, Professor Fobuzshi Angwafo III revealed that most adolescents are students and do not have time to go to the hospital in the morning.