Medical Centres In Cameroon : Public Health Minister Explains Modalities

The health of the population is the preoccupation of both government and the people’s representatives. At their various levels, they are all working to ensure the well-being of the population so as to enable them better carry out their activities. To legislators, this objective is better realised with the putting in place of health centres, especially those of proximity range. It is against this backdrop that Hon. Margaza Alaou Abel Maggi, questioned the Minister of Public Health, Manaouda Malachie, why the Zina Subdivision in the Logone and Chari Division of the Far North Region does not have a Subdivisional Health Centre. In essence, the legislator was pleading with the Minister for the setting up of a health centre in the locality which, according to him will greatly help the situation of pregnant women and other sick people who have to cover long distances to get medical attention. The same plea was made by Hon. Awutah Philip for the Ngie and Widikum Subdivisions of the North West Region, with a population of 60,000 and 70,000 respectively.  
Public Health Minister, while responding to the worry during a plenary sitting chaired by House Speaker, Cavaye Yeguie Djibril on July 4, 2024, said, the health system in Cameroon is organised in the form of a pyramid, beginning from referral hospitals right down to community health centres. He explained that health centres are not set up in reflection to the administrative unit of the locality, but rather in respect to the distance to be covered to get health care, which should not go beyond 5km. The Minister said Cameroon is currently at the first stage of its Universal Health Coverage Plan and Article 7(1) of the May 25, 2021 disposition notes that the size of the population is greatly considered when setting up health c...