Publications

In public places as well as in homes, water is necessary for consumption, compliance with hygiene rules, sanitation and environmental cleanliness. This study describes in 2017, access to improved water sources in public places of health districts frequently affected by cholera outbreak in Cameroon. This was a cross-sectional descriptive study targeting public places in four health districts of the Littoral and Far North regions of Cameroon. Using an observational grid, data were collected on the availability of improved water sources in public places accommodating at least 100 persons daily. Public places were selected by stratified random sampling process. All 432 identified public places were included. Schools, mosques and bars were the most represented with 169 (39.1%), 74 (17.1%) and 68 (15.7%) surveyed respectively. Out of the 432 public places, 262 [60.7% (55.9-65.3)] had an improved water source. This varied with respect to types of public places and health districts. Improve Read more...

Cameroon adopted and started implementing in 2016, the ‘universal test and treat’ (UTT) guidelines to fast-track progress towards the 95-95-95 ambitious targets to end the HIV epidemic. UTT has shown inconsistent results elsewhere and has not yet been assessed in Cameroon. We aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of this novel approach on the quality of care and health outcomes of people living with HIV (PLHIV).

A retrospective cohort design was conducted at The Nkongsamba Regional Hospital, using routine clinical service delivery data to measure uptake levels of UTT and CD4 testing, and to compare the incidence of opportunistic infections (OI) between PLHIV initiated on ART based on the “Universal Test and Treat” strategy and those initiated on ART based on the standard deferred approach between 2002 and 2020. Kaplan Meier plots and log-rank tests were used to compare OI events between the pre-UTT and post-UTT eras. The Cox regression model was used to sc Read more...

HIV remains an epidemic of major public health importance in Cameroon but a decline in HIV prevalence has been observed according to population-based surveys conducted in 2004, 2011 and 2018. We sought to review current evidence for declining HIV prevalence despite increasing survival owing to ‘universal test and treat’ and to explore the reason for the decrease, particularly the role of behavioural change.

We conducted a secondary analysis using HIV prevalence, behavioural and social determinants data of the Demographic and Health Survey Program databases. Trend lines were fitted to data that were available for a minimum of three points in time during the 1991–2018 period. Regression coefficients associated p-values and 95% confidence intervals were obtained using Microsoft Excel software.

Overall adult HIV prevalence decreased significantly from 5.4% (95%CI: 4.8-6.0) in 2004 to 4.3% (95%CI: 3.8–4.8) in 2011 and further down to 2.7% (95 Read more...

Introduction. The occurrence of epidemics is known to contribute in reducing the capacity of health facilities to deliver care and the predisposition of populations to seek care through several mechanisms. Objective. The objective was to assess the effect of the COVID-19 on vaccination coverage of the expanded program of immunization (EPI) vaccines in children aged 0-11 months. Methods. The study involved a descriptive and case control designs exhaustively targeting health facilities in health areas from selected health districts. The descriptive part explored the distribution of immunization coverage 12 months before and during COVID-19. Data were extracted from monthly EPI reports of health areas. Cases were months with immunization coverages of Bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG), Measles Mumps-Rubella 1 (MMR1) or Diphtheria-Pertussis-Tetanus Hepatitis B + Hemophilus influenzae type b dose 3 (DPT-Hi+Hb3) less than 80%. The exposure were months belonging to the pandemic period. Results. Read more...

Introduction. During surveys, it is recommended that children immunization status should be based on immunization documents. It has been noted that in some communities, a number of children are claimed to be vaccinated but have no evidence of vaccination. This work is proposed to estimate routine immunization coverage in children based on both documented vaccination and the tracking of undocumented immunization. Methods. It was a community-based survey targeting children aged 0-59 months in which the immunization status of children was assessed based on vaccination documents and based on a questionnaire tracking immunization sites and period for children with undocumented vaccination. The vaccination coverage and completeness were estimated from data collected in immunization cards and re-estimated after tracking the immunization status of children with no immunization cards. Results. Of 1435 children reached in households, 1430 (99.7%) were included. Of 1072 children aged 12-59 mon Read more...

BACKGROUND: As actors with the key responsibility for the protection of human research participants, Research Ethics Committees (RECs) need to be competent and well-resourced in order to fulfil their roles. Despite recent programs designed to strengthen RECs in Africa, much more needs to be accomplished before these committees can function optimally. OBJECTIVE: To assess training needs for biomedical research ethics evaluation among targeted countries. METHODS: Members of RECs operating in three targeted African countries were surveyed between August and November 2007. Before implementing the survey, ethical approvals were obtained from RECs in Switzerland, Cameroon, Mali and Tanzania. Data were collected using a semi-structured questionnaire in English and in French. Results: A total of 74 respondents participated in the study. The participation rate was 68%. Seventy one percent of respondents reported having received some training in research ethics evaluation. This training was g Read more...

Tuberculosis is a public health threat in Cameroon. Health Research was recently recognized by African Ministers of Health as an effective means of accelerating the control of any disease or health issue in Africa. Worldwide, research in the field of tuberculosis control has been promising. In the light of a rapidly changing global research environment it has therefore become timely to review and update the priorities for TB research. In Cameroon, research on TB is active and diversified but not carried out in a prioritized framework. It will therefore be interesting to assess this activity and come out with area poorly covered in order to sensitize researchers and policy makers. We seek to conduct a literature review of all research activities carried out in TB in Cameroon. Our purpose is to categorize these studies per type, site and target population in order to identify areas of weaknesses. Key words: Tuberculosis - Research- Cameroon

Background: Cameroon is one of the countries with highest burden diabetes in Africa; the adequate respond of health personnel to this burden depend on their knowledge in preventing and managing diabetic patients. Objective: To assess the knowledge of health personnel on the management of diabetes mellitus in the West Region of Cameroon Study design: It was a cross sectional descriptive study conducted in the West Region of Cameroon from May to July 2016. The Knowledge of consulting health personnel, selected using a multi-stage random sampling, was assessed on diabetes prevention and management using a structured pre-tested questionnaire administered face-to-face. We estimated proportions of health personnel who master the diagnosis of diabetes mellitus, complications, risk factors, management and prevention with 95% CI. Results: Out of 193 health personnel included, 92.8% (CI 88.16-96.0), 119(61.7%), 66.8% (CI 54.4-68.6), and 57.5% (CI 50.2-64.6) of health personnel respectively kn Read more...

The interest of migratory health displaced population and the impact on global disease epidemics has generated a lot of public health interest within the framework of movement in search for greener pastures. Many studies conducted to show a link between disease, travel and migration show some indications of historical connections that continue to have an impact on current medical programmes and daily activities [1]. The perspective of traditional medical services that concerns migrant health considers the recognition, identification and management of specific diseases, and health issues in displaced populations at the time and location of their destination [2]. In this paper we consider migrants population to be a group of people moving from one geographical location or environment to another for many reasons such as political instability, outbreak natural disaster, war, epidemic outbreak, for better life, search for fertile grazing field for livestock, asylum seeking and religious Read more...