Alleged Strike In State Hospitals : Health Workers Remain Intransigent

  Amidst threats of labour strike, serenity reigns in various hospitals as duty consciousness prevails for the medical staff.

It is 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday April 18, 2017. Cameroon Tribune (CT) reporters make their way into the premises of the Yaounde Central Hospital, where the medical team is on hand to attend to patients. The main entrance into the hospital is bustling with people making their way into and out of the hospital. Patients on wheel beds are being carried from one medical block into another within the hospital. The hospital pharmacy is jammed to near capacity with people who want to buy drugs likewise the accountant’s office for those who want to pay for medical examinations or other hospital bills. There is no cause for concern as serenity reigns while medical doctors go about their daily activities peacefully.
The scenario witnessed at the Yaounde Central Hospital is not different from that at the Yaounde Teaching Hospital as well as the Cite Verte District Hospital in Yaounde, where patients were being taken care of by doctors and nurses. At the Yaounde Central Hospital, CT reporters met the hospital Director, Professor Joseph Fouda carrying out his daily visit to all the wards in the hospital. His first stop was at the Intensive Care Unit and the Radiology Service. As Prof. Fouda moves around the hospital, he is faced with a lady, whose names CT got as Rose Souob. Mama Rose was seeking directives on where she can pay her bills for a series of laboratory examinations. Mama Rose Souob told CT she is from the Chantal Biya Foundation with a patient who needs to undergo some medical examination. When asked if her needs are being met, Mama Rose replies “yes, there is no sign of a strike action at the hospital”. Edith Nana is another patient seen at the Yaounde Teaching Hospital. She tells CT how she w...