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YAOUNDE, CAMEROON – A song urging Cameroonians not to give up in the fight against malaria erupted through speakers on World Malaria Day on Saturday at crossroads and popular neighborhoods, as well as in advertising vans that drive through the capital of Cameroon, Yaoundé.
Dr. Daniel Etoundi, from the Cameroonian public health ministry, said health teams were being brought to all neighborhoods to try to discourage patients from buying medicines on the go or turning to traditional African healers for treatment of the malaria, because they can cause serious health complications.
“If the product is toxic, the liver will spoil [destroyed]. The same goes for the kidney, “he said.” Most of the products we consume are eliminated through the kidney through urine. Now if the drug is toxic, it will spoil kidney function. “
The Cameroonian Ministry of Public Health reported that since March 5, when the first case of the coronavirus was reported in the Central African state, many people with suspected cases of malaria or other diseases have refused to go to hospitals for fear to contract COVID. 19) As of Saturday, more than 1,500 cases had been confirmed in the country, according to statistics from Johns Hopkins University.
But doctors say 90 percent of Cameroon’s 25 million people are at risk for malaria, while 41 percent have one episode each year.
Dr. Dorothy Achu, coordinator of Cameroon’s National Malaria Control Program, said that people must understand that although the government places a lot of emphasis on the dangers of COVID-19, malaria remains the leading cause of death in the nation, especially children.
“We are trying to sensitize health workers to protect themselves well, but to continue providing services,” as well as to reassure the population “that it is not in all hospitals that we care for patients with COVID. Therefore, we only demand that they protect themselves. ” when they go to hospitals, “he said.
Educational efforts
Innocent Kuisseu, a member of the malaria prevention awareness team, said the members were also educating Cameroonians on how to protect themselves from malaria by systematically using insecticide-treated mosquito nets and visiting hospitals when they suspected they might have malaria. He said that people should not think that anyone with malaria also has COVID-19.
“Efforts are being made to ensure that the population is increasingly aware of what should be the appropriate treatment, to ensure that there is a rapid diagnostic test for malaria, to ensure that they sleep under insecticide. Treated nets “, said.
The group’s International Observatory on Severe Malaria reports that malaria causes 22% of deaths that occur in health centers in Cameroon, and that 10% of deaths in children under 5 are related to malaria.
Health officials in Cameroon attribute the increase in malaria and COVID-19 cases to the fact that many people do not respect basic hygiene standards and do not visit health facilities when they have early signs of any of the diseases. They also say that too many people refuse to use treated mosquito nets.
