Heath Care in West Cameroon DWB Withdraws Activities After Government’s Suspension

Doctors without Borders, one of the world’s leading emergency medical humanitarian organisations is withdrawing its teams from crisis hit North-west region of Cameroon, after the government banned it from providing health care to citizens. This information is stated in a press release made public by the NGO on Tuesday July 3, 2021.

Médecins sans frontières (Doctors Without Borders) announced on Tuesday that it is pulling out of the North-West Regionof Cameroon, one of two anglophone regions where nearly a million people have fled their homes because of fighting between government forces and armed separatists.

This is following the suspension of the activities by the government of Cameroon for close to eight months today. The governor of the North-West region, Adolf Lele l’Afrique instructed MSF to suspend its activities in the North-West Region on December 8, 2020, after a series of accusations directed towards the humanitarian agency for supporting local armed groups in the region.

The NGO was accused by the Cameroonian authorities for collaborating with separatist fighters, and helping them to transport weapons.

He issued a note suspending the activities between NSF and a certain St. Maria Catholic hospital, as well as similar partnerships with other health facilities. MSF vehemently denied the accusation and pleaded with the government to resume activities to no avail.

Having been on a standstill of several months, the organisation has decided to quit the region.  “We cannot stay any longer in a region where we are not allowed to provide care to people. Unfortunately, we cannot keep our staff on standby any longer, do we have no choice but to withdraw our team,” said Emmanuel Lampaert, the MSF operations coordinator for Central Africa.

Conscious of how much the population will be affected by their withdrawal, Emmanuel Mampaert further indicated that “This suspension significantly reduces access to medical services in an area where communities are badly affected by armed violence. We hope that the provision of medical humanitarian assistance to everyone, without distinction will still be possible. The people are paying a very heavy price for this situation.”

Since 2018, MSF has been one of the few International NGOs offering health services to Communities in the North-West region. It successfully managed the lone free 24/7 ambulance in the area.

According to the coordinator for this region, thousands of Cameroonians victims of the crisis benefitted from the free health services of this organisation.

“In 2020, until it’s suspension in December, MSF teams in the North-West region treated 180 survivors of Sexual violence, provided 1725 mental health consultations, performed 3272 surgeries, and transported 4407 patients by ambulance, more than one thousands of whom were women about to give birth,” explained Laura Martinelli, MSF coordinator for the North-West.

She added that “We provided 42578 consultations, mainly for diseases such as malaria, diarrhea and respiratory tract infections. MSF also treated direct victims of armed violence in the region, in accordance with the principles of international humanitarian law.”

This NGO says despite the decision to suspend their activities, they are still opened to talk with the Cameroonian authorities for a possible resumption of activities. “If the authorities decide to lift our suspension, we will resume our medical activities as soon as possible,” Laura Martinelli further indicated.

Emmanuel Mampaert says that care providers need some degree of Respect from all state actors. He invites everybody to attribute this respect to their peers. He “While we are forced to withdraw our teams, we call on all parties to the crisis to respect healthcare providers, whether are members of the Non-Governmental Organisation or that ministry of health. Any threats against them or their patients is unacceptable”

In the meantime, the population of this region, victims of the crisis and partners continue to lament over their departure, while no one knows what the government is update, as far as this situation is concerned.

Ingrid KENGNE