Since 2007, nurses at Cameroon Baptist Convention Health Services (CBCHS) Women’s Health Programs (WHP) have been working to improve the health of women in Cameroon.
CBCHS provides healthcare to over 20% of the population in Cameroon in five hospital, 24 integrated health centers, and 50 primary health centers. In six WHP clinics that cover four of the ten regions of Cameroon, nurses provide numerous services including, screen for cervical cancer, provide treatment of precancers, counsel about family planning and HIV testing, syndromically manage reproductive tract infections, refer women with invasive cancers for radical surgery and/or radio/chemotherapy, and provide follow-up care. In addition, the nurses train new women’s health care providers to work in the WHP clinics or in other organizations.
Between 2007-2013, WHP has screened over 34,000 women in stationary CBCHS facilities and mobile clinics in remote villages across Cameroon targeting women living with HIV. These programs are improving the health of women and saving lives. The WHP pioneers an innovative method of cervical cancers screening in Cameroon known as Digital Cervicography (DC). The method was first introduced in Zambia by a Gynecologic Oncologist who at time was on Faculty at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. DC is an adjunct to visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA) and visual inspection with Lugol’s iodine (VILI). In DC, a hand held camera fitted with a macro-convention lens is used to project real-time highly magnified cervical images onto a TV monitor through a connecting cord. The image is available to the woman and the clinician and then captured with a digital image. This year, the WHP plans to expand to two new CBCHS sites including the Adamawa Region, a Muslim dominated area of Cameroon.
In 2010, the CBC Women’s Health Programs won the Catholic Organization for Relief and Development AID (CORDAID) Award. CORDIAD, a Dutch charitable organization, recognized the CBCHS WHP as the best faith-based organization in the global south for demonstrating outstanding commitment in rendering sexual and reproductive health services to women and girls living with HIV. The award of 10,000 Euros was presented to the CBC WHP by the Dutch AIDS Ambassador during the 2010 commemoration of World AIDS Day in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
One of the most outstanding achievements of WHP was the first successful anti-HPV vaccination campaign in Cameroon. Axios HealthCare Development donated Gardasil vaccines for the campaign. The campaign vaccinated over 6,800 girls aged 9 – 13 and achieved 85% completion rate with all three doses. This successful campaign is now being used as a model by the Cameroon Ministry of Health to implement larger scale anti-HPV vaccination programs.
Simon Manga, the Director of the WHP at CBCHS, has been tracking screening and treatment outcomes, overseeing training programs, and collaborating with local and international partners to improve women’s health in Cameroon. After completing a “See and Treat” cervical cancer prevention training at the University Teaching Hospital of Lusaka, Zambia, he is dedicated to replicating a similar program model in Cameroon, specifically, at the CBCHS. He has trained over 30 nurses and physicians in DC, cryotherapy and Loop Electrosurgical Excision Procedure (LEEP). He recently completed a Master’s Degree in Reproductive Health from the School of Health Sciences at the Catholic University for Central Africa Yaounde. He plans to pursue a PhD in the future to increase his skills in research, especially in the domain of Women’s Health.
Lily Haritu is a nurse in the WHP who recently completed a Master’s Degree in International Public Health (with merit) and a supplementary diploma in Sexual and Reproductive Health at the University of Liverpool, School of Tropical Medicine, England. She is keen on translating policy – relevant research and evidence-based best practices into interventions that mainstream gender in health and promote sexual and reproductive health and rights in Cameroon. In addition to caring for women in WHP clinics, she provides training and technical oversight in the integration of family planning and cervical cancer prevention services into HIV care and treatment at the Baptist Hospital in Mutengene. Lily plans to pursue an interdisciplinary public health doctorate at the Harvard School of Public Health where she hopes to challenge and expand her knowledge in global sexual and reproductive health, gain new skills in applying research findings to real-world problems and, above all, express her relevance in generating creative and innovative approaches to sexual and reproductive health justice for all in Cameroon.
Manjuh Florence is a nurse in the WHP in Mboppi-Douala. She would like to pursue a Master’s Degree in Public Health so she may gain more knowledge and skills in protecting and improving health thereby prolonging life for many in her community through the promotion of healthy life styles and research for disease prevention.
Edith Kiyang is state registered, nurse-midwife who is dedicated to promoting Women’s Health at the WHP Clinic within Baptist Hospital Mutengene. She is also a strong advocate for family planning, cervical cancer screening and HIV integration within the CBC Health service. The best part of her job is that precious moment where she has the chance to provide life –saving woman-centered care to the poor and marginalized in a patriarchal society like Cameroon. Through extensive fieldwork, Edith came to the realization that further training in a field that focuses on the health of populations has the potential of expanding her work from the grass-root to the national level. She therefore hopes to pursue a Master of Public Health degree with a concentration in Women’s Health through which she can integrate and promote quality of care through clinic-derived research questions.
In March 2014, the CBCHS began a new partnership with colleagues from the University of Massachusetts (UMass). A nurse researcher from UMass Boston, Lisa Kennedy Sheldon PhD APRN, and a virologist from UMass Medical School, Javier Gordon Ogembo PhD, traveled to Mutengene, Cameroon, to explore programs to increase research and training capacity in-country. During their visit they attended the 5th International Cervical Cancer Conference at the University of Buea and met with nurses and clinicians to learn about cervical cancer screening and treatment programs in Cameroon and Sub Saharan Africa. Both partners are looking forward to collaborative efforts to write grant applications and pursue funding for new training and research programs to improve women’s health in Cameroon.
For more information, contact:
Edith Kiyang (makiyang2012@gmail.com)
Florence Manju (manjuhrencefav@yahoo.com)
Lily Haritu (lilyfavour2009@yahoo.com)
Simon Manga (mangam44@yahoo.com, smanga@cbchealthsservices.org)