Mothers In Financial Distress : Health Minister Comes To Their Aid

Some 20 mothers, who had given birth at the Yaounde Gynaeco-Paediatric Hospital months ago; and were unable to pay their bills were finally discharged on December 4, 2024 after the Minister of Public Health paid a surprised visit at the gynaecological ward of the health structure with the announcement to settle all their debts. 
On December 4, 2024, after commissioning the new General Manager of the hospital, the Minister of Public Health Malachie Manaouda went directly to the gynaecological ward of the hospital to see for himself what the social media had termed “mothers and babies detained in hospitals in Cameroon”. In fact, these women had given birth at the hospital and could not be discharged because they had not paid their complete hospital bills. As such, the hospital had created a special ward in which these women and their babies were sleeping, hoping and waiting for them to complete payment of their bills. After having a chat with these women, the Minister of Public Health realised that the women were penniless and some of them had been staying in the hospital for over one month, some others one or two weeks. The Minister of Public Health told the hospital administration that keeping the women and their babies will not solve the problems because when any of them will get sick, they will still need to treat them. Hence, the hospital bills will keep increasing. He ordered the head nurse to immediately compile the discharge formalities for all the women and release them immediately. These words pronounced by the Minister, was received with gratitude and a sigh of relief from the women. 
During the visit, Dr Manaouda also raised the women's awareness of the importance of saving and better financial planning to anticipate the needs associated with child birth. He reminded them that motherhood, although a source of joy, requires adequate preparation, both material and financial. As such, the process...