Malaria Death Toll Rises in North Cameroon

by

YAOUNDE — The death toll from malaria in north Cameroon has risen to 2,500.  The minister of health says treated mosquito bed nets that are supposed to be distributed free are instead sold in hospitals or exported to neighboring countries.  Meanwhile, hospitals say they no longer have space for patients as the epidemic keeps growing.

Tanimou Maimouna cries in front of the Bon Secours clinic in Maroua as her 11-month old daughter dies from malarial complications.  Her family is just one among thousands who have lost loved ones since a malaria spike began in the far north in September.

Cameroon’s Minister of Health Andre Mamma Fouda said the number of cases have spiraled.

He said 657,754 patients have been treated in local hospitals with more than 180,000 diagnosed with malaria.  He said 75 percent of those had simple malaria while the rest presented with serious or deadly complications.

The Health Ministry confirmed more than 2,600 people have died – many of them pregnant women and children.  But local newspapers reported a much higher death toll.

Minister Fouda said the government was responding rapidly to the growing demands being placed on local hospitals.

He said highly specialized equipment has been brought in to quickly diagnose suspected cases, and they have increased the supply of the latest anti-malaria drugs at highly subsidized rates.

He said children under 5 years of age with uncomplicated cases of malaria were being treated for free.

The government also said it has intensified the free distribution of insecticide-treated mosquito bed nets.

But Suzan Birni, a nurse, said most facilities like the Pont Vert hospital in Maroua where she worked have not received the nets to distribute to pregnant women.

“For quite some time now there are no mosquito bed nets to distribute.  So when a woman delivers they just ask them [her] to go back without any bed net,” she said.

Newspaper reports accused some of the hospital staff of selling the bed nets in neighboring countries like Chad.

Nigerian-born Johnson Nnandi is a local market vendor who said that he bought and sold treated bed nets for about $10 to $15 each.

“At times we sell one for six thousand francs, at times seven thousand francs.  But when business is not going on well we sell for 5,000 francs,” he said.

Back at the Pont Vert hospital in Maroua, the situation is getting desperate.

Mr. and Mrs. Abdoulaye Abbo have been receiving treatment outside in the courtyard as there is not space inside.  The couple and their baby are all suffering from malaria.

Despite the substandard conditions, they sid they appreciated the hospital staff for working hard to save lives.

He said he was the first to get malaria, then his wife, and now they were back at the hospital with their daughter.  He thought the malaria was the worst ever this year.

Malaria cases constitute the highest number of consultations in Cameroon’s hospitals, and the death rate from the disease stands at 28 percent.

Health officials in Cameroon blame the epidemic on the refusal of people to use treated mosquito bed nets, the fact that many people do not respect basic hygiene standards, the failure to clear outdoor standing water, and people who do not visit health facilities when they have early signs of malaria.

The World Health Organization warns that waiting six hours for treatment can mean death to a child sick with malaria.

–Moki Edwin Kindzeka

Source: VOA News

Upsurge of Malaria in Cameroon Town

by

AOUNDE — A malaria upsurge in the town of Maroua, in the far north of Cameroon, has led to the death of hundreds of people. More than 10,000 people have been treated for the disease in the last month, straining the capacity of area hospitals and clinics.

Cameroon state radio said the number of people suffering from malaria in the north has made an unprecedented surge in the past three weeks.

The news broadcast said that hospitals in the far north of Cameroon are having problems handling the great number of malaria cases. “More than 10,000 cases have been reported in the Town of Maroua alone. Women and pregnant women are the highest hit,” it said.

According to statistics from the Maroua Urban health district, the ten hospitals in the area have treated more than 10,000 malaria patients in the past 21 days. Data on how many have been treated at private and mission hospitals is not available.

Palai Monique, a pediatric nurse at the Maroua Regional Hospital, told VOA that the situation has been alarming.

“All our halls have been occupied by people suffering from malaria, especially children between the ages of zero to 15 years,” she said. “There have been moments we did not have space even for serious cases, and we recorded situations in which children just died as early as they came here.”

Local newspapers have reported that at least a thousand people have died, while state radio puts the figure at about 600.

Dr. Etienne Fonjo, the secretary of Cameroon’s anti-malaria program, acknowledged that child mortality has increased as a result of the upsurge.

“Malaria remains a public health concern here,” he said. “Today morbidity has risen to 27 percent.

The doctor added that they have been struggling to assist the patients with the limited means they have.

“We can cite, for example, the free treatment given to children of less than five years, free treatment administered to pregnant women, and recently the free distribution of treated mosquito bed nets to 80 percent of households,” said Dr. Fonjo.

Health officials in Cameroon blame the upsurge on the refusal of people to use treated mosquito bed nets, the fact that many people do not respect basic hygiene standards, failure to clear outdoor standing water, and people who do not visit health facilities when they have early signs of malaria.

The World Health Organization warns that waiting six hours for treatment can mean death to a child sick with malaria. The first weeks after the dry season in Maroua are also periods when cases of malaria increase.
Moki Edwin Kindzeka
Source: VOA