Exodus Of Medical Doctors On The Rise

Exodus Of Medical Doctors On The Rise

By Elias Ntungwe Ngalame, on 29-07-2009 05:29 Views : 296 Cameroonian Doctors: Going For Greener Pastures Abroad The Director of the Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences of the University of Yaounde I, Professor Titanye Ekoue, has revealed that there is a mass exodus of Cameroonian doctors to developed countries where these health personnel find job satisfaction and better working conditions. The professor expressed worry that the exodus rate was so high that if nothing was done to halt the trend, the country risks having a patient/doctor ratio of 25000:1. This year some 96 general practitioners graduated to join their colleagues in the field. Titanye was speaking at the graduation ceremony of the 34th batch of students from the medical school on Friday 24 July in Yaounde in the presence of the Prime Minister, Philemon Yang. He lamented what he described as helpless situation of medical doctors who do not only have a large crowd of patients to attend to on a daily bases but also work under very perilous conditions. A graduate medical doctor after seven years of study in Cameroon earns about FCFA 150.000 while his mate from the military school on graduation after 3 years earns above FCFA 500.000 with other allowances. In most hospitals especially in the rural areas, Eden gathered, basic working equipments are lacking and drug supplies poor to say the least. The different speakers at the ceremony lauded the graduates for their perseverance, hard work and discipline, calling on them to stand firm by their profession to uphold its ethics. Since creation some 34 years ago the Faculty of Health Science has graduated some 3.300 doctors trained with more than 5000 trained out of Cameroon and unwilling to returned. Initially called the University Centre for Health Science on creation some 40 years ago, the school has since 1993 been changed to a faculty. Intake into the school that was limited to just 30 places has since 1993 moved up to above 100 per admission year. This has increased the student population necessitating infrastructure development. It is against this background that the Director revealed that new infrastructures were being put in place to better accommodate the student population. Infrastructure for the Pharmacy and Dentistry sections are near completion. Also the school curricular was being revised to adapt it to the tropical realities in Cameroon. There will also be the pedagogic block, amphitheatre of 1000 seats and a library. Hippocratic Foundation Launched Prime Minister Philemon Yang who was guest of honour launched a philanthropic organisation at the Faculty of Medicine named the Hippocratic Foundation. According to the authorities, it is a civil society creation to award scholarships to underprivileged students in the school in particular and Cameroon at large given that medical schools now exist in other state universities. The Foundation will also promote research in the health sector. Veteran musician, Manu Dibango, was a special guest of honour to the event. He organised a musical concert at the Palais de Sport to, raise the first funds for the Foundation. Tribute To Dr. Dan Muna The students, staff and government authorities all paid glowing tribute to the late Daniel Muna president of the National Medical Council who passed away some weeks ago for the wonderful job he did to uphold the medical profession. Daniel Muna who owns the Famous Clinique Muna in Douala accordingly will be buried in his home town on August 1st. According to Titanye the late medical expert served selflessly and embraced the challenges of the profession with tact and dexterity. Like the biblical Daniel; the late Daniel Muna was described as courageous, intelligent and hard working.

Our Public health at a Glance

The Ministry of Public Health is responsible for the maintenance of all public health services. Many missionaries maintain health and leprosy centers. The government is pursuing a vigorous policy of public health improvement, with considerable success in reducing sleeping sickness, leprosy, and other endemic diseases. The demand for all types of health services and equipment is high and constant. The need for modern equipment is especially urgent, with many clinics using outdated equipment, some of which is imported illegally from Nigeria.

Malaria is prevalent in the Bénoué River Valley, the basin of Lake Chad, the coastal region, and the forests of southern Cameroon. A large percentage of the adult population is affected. Other serious water-borne diseases are schistosomiasis and sleeping sickness, which is spread by the tsetse fly. Cameroon lies in the yellow fever endemic zone. In 1999, there were 335 cases of tuberculosis per 100,000 people.

As of 1999, there were an estimated 0.1 physicians and 2.6 hospital beds per 1,000 people. There was one nursing professional per 2,000 people in 1993. As of 1999 total health care expenditure was estimated at 5% of GDP.

In 2000, the average life expectancy was 50 years. The estimated death rate in 2002 was 12.08 per 1,000 people and the birth rate was estimated at 35.66 per 1,000 people. As of 1999, only an estimated 19% of the country's married women (ages 15 to 49) used any type of contraception. The total fertility rate in 2000 was 4.8 per woman and the infant mortality rate was 76 per 1,000 live births. An estimated 29% of children under the age of five suffered from malnutrition. In the same year, 62% of the population had access to safe drinking water and 92% had adequate sanitation. In 1999 Cameroon immunized children up to one year old for tuberculosis (52%); diphtheria, pertussis, and tetanus (48%); polio (37%); and measles (31%).

At the end of 2001, the number of people living with HIV/AIDS was estimated at 920,000 (including 11.8% of the adult population) and deaths from AIDS that year were estimated at 53,000. HIV prevalence in 1999 was 7.73 per 100 adults.

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