Assuring Quality Healthcare: Cameroon Presents Roadmap To Partners

The Minister of Public Health, Dr Malachie Manaouda, on Wednesday, November 30, 2022 in Yaounde chaired a meeting with the ministry’s technical and financial partners. The objective was to carry out advocacy and also present the ministry’s roadmap on quality healthcare, equipment and services, to the partners.
The Minister said the meeting was called for the parties to jointly develop the project to improve the quality of healthcare, equipment and services in order to achieve the major objective of securing and giving a human face to healthcare in Cameroon. He said quality was the first pillar of Cameroon’s “Agenda for transforming the health system: Is the time to act indispensable for the success of our universal health coverage initiative?”
“Despite the major achievements made, Cameroon’s health system continues to suffer from a negative perception. Some public health facilities are often blamed by the public, while the inability of patients to settle their bills and the recovery of debts remain major concerns,” Dr Manaouda admitted. 
He said Cameroon embarked on the development of its health system to ensure good health for its citizens. But warned that this can only be achieved by strengthening health governance and the oversight role of the Ministry of Public Health; improving the offer and use of quality healthcare; improving maternal health and that of children less than five years old; strengthening the fight against diseases and infections with origin in hospitals; strengthening the prevention, and the promotion of health and proximity medical care.
The Sustainable Development Goals reaffirm the commitment of the international community to achieve universal health coverage by 2030. “This means that people all over the world must have access to promotional healthcare services, preventive, curative, and high quality readapted or palliative care they need without financial handicap,” the Minister noted. 
The World Health Organisation, WHO Resident Representative for Cameroon, Dr Phanuel Habimana felicitated the Ministry of Public Health for deciding to improve healthcare in Cameroon. “In 2015, the United Nations General Assembly effected a paradigm shift by including humanity in the new manner of being, seeing and doing things with the help of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. One of the SDDs has to do with enabling everyone to live in good health and promote the wellbeing of everyone at any age.” Universal health coverage is important for SDDs, he said. “Universal health coverage entails assuring that everyone and all communities use promotional health services, preventive, curative, and readaptation and palliative care as they need,” Dr Phanuel explained.  
By focusing specifically on the quality of healthcare, the 2030 National Sustainable Development Programme recognises the urgency to include quality healthcare in...