Assana Moudoum Bahama : “Reinforcement of surveillance in our various localities »

The Head of the Mokolo Health District, in the Far North region, gives an update on the response to the epidemic in his area of jurisdiction.

What is the situation of the cholera epidemic in Mokolo
Health District?
It should be noted at the outset that it was on 15 October 2022 that the Mokolo Health District recorded its first case of Cholera, particularly in the Minawao health area. This patient, who arrived for consultation at the Minawao Integrated
Health Centre’s Station 1 and who presented symptoms that met the definition of a suspected case of Cholera, unfortunately died a few minutes after his admission to the hospital ward. Once the case was referred to us by the staff on duty, we asked the doctor on duty to carry out the post-mortem test, which turned out to be positive.
From that moment on, the Mokolo Health District was suspected
of having a cholera epidemic. This suspicion was replaced by a confirmation following the positive results of the samples taken and sent to the National Laboratory. Our Health District was therefore officially declared to be in an epidemic
as of 20 October 2022.
This situation immediately led to the convening of an emergency meeting with officials of the Far North Regional Delegation of Public
Health, those of the Mokolo Health District and the Minawao Health Area, but also representatives
of the various partners intervening
in the Minawao refugee camp, notably the UNHCR, IMC, WHO, Plan International, ADES, Médecins Sans Frontières, among others. This meeting allowed the division of tasks and responsibilities
and also allowed the pooling of efforts in order to organise a global response to this epidemic. The effectiveness of this global response
has made it possible to minimise
the numbers linked to this epidemic and thus limit its spread.
To date, the epidemic is generally under control and has affected only one (01) health area out of the twenty-one (21) areas in the Mokolo Health District. Moreover, the last recorded case dates from 27 November 2022. And concerning
the updated figures related to this epidemic, we have recorded a total of 144 positive cases of cholera
and all of them were concentrated
in the Minawao Refugee Camp. Among these cases, 140 people have completely recovered
from their illness, but we have unfortunately recorded 04 deaths, of which 02 in the community and 02 in the health facility.
What strategy have you put in place to avoid similar
situations?
Based on all these observations and to put an end to this epidemic in a sustainable manner, the Cameroonian
government, through the Ministry of Public Health and with the support of its various partners in the field of health, organised from 14 to 18 November 2022, a vaccination campaign in response to the cholera epidemic in the Minawao health area and more precisely in the Minawao refugee camp. At the end of this campaign, the vaccinators were able to administer
80,937 doses of vaccine, for a vaccination coverage of 113% in relation to the target which had been allocated to us and which amounted to 71,586 individuals, essentially made up of refugees from this camp. This coverage rate, which is higher than the initial target,
is justified by the coincidence between the vaccination period and the period of food distribution to the refugees, which generally entails the return of the other refugees
who live outside the camp. It is this coincidence that opportunely
led to the increase in the initial target and therefore to the high percentage of immunisation coverage.
This also means that, unlike other vaccines that are reluctantly received
by the community, such as the COVID-19 vaccine, the cholera
vaccine is rather sought after by the population and therefore easily accepted. The strategies deployed, in particular door-to-door in households, the fixed post on the health training sites and the temporary fixed post in schools, places of worship, chiefdoms, markets
and other gathering places, made it possible to vaccinate all the people present in the Refugee Camp during the campaign period.
After this first campaign, which mainly concerned the Minawao Refugee Camp, the Ministry of Health organised a second campaign,
which this time took place from 22 to 26 February 2023, in certain areas of the Health Districts
that had notified at least one case in recent months throughout the country. In the Far North Region,
the Districts concerned were Fotokol, Mada, Mokolo and Mora. In the case of the Mokolo Health District, which we are in charge of, the campaign took place in 4 health areas, namely the health areas of Gadala, Gawar, Mokolo 1 and Zamay. This second campaign enabled us to administer 90,826 doses of cholera vaccine to the populations
of these 4 health areas, for a vaccine coverage of 144.41% compared to the planned target of 79,384 individuals. This high coverage
rate is justified by the vaccination
of people who, although not residing in the campaign areas, were nevertheless able to be vaccinated
during their visit or stay in these areas.
It goes without saying that these different figures demonstrate the involvement of all the actors, particularly
those in the health sector, those in the related sectors of Basic
and Secondary Education, but also the involvement and support of the Administrative and Municipal
Authorities, the partner organisations
of the Ministry of Health and the religious and traditional leaders, who have all worked to ensure the success of these different
campaigns.
Does this mean that you are already immune?
The imminent arrival of the rainy season in the coming months calls for the reinforcement of active surveillance in all the areas of our Health District, because even if the epidemic seems to have ended, the incessant movements of our populations and the porousness of our borders could lead to the importation of new cases. The training
sessions on epidemiological surveillance that we have initiated in recent months, with the support of our various partners, are part of this desire to strengthen surveillance
in our various localities. We would like to take this opportunity to thank once again the Cameroonian
Government and its various Development Partners, who have never spared any effort to offer quality health coverage to all social strata, whether they are from Cameroon
or other sister countries. This is evidenced by the quality of care offered to Nigerian refugees in the Minawao Refugee Camp and to internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the many IDP camps in the Mokolo District, who are cared for by qualified personnel and who, when the situation requires, are promptly referred by ambulance to the Regional and Assimilated Hospitals of Mokolo and Maroua.
We would also like to pay a vibrant tribute to all the personnel in the field of health, all categories, who show great magnanimity on a daily
basis, in the health care of our populations. Health is essential in the life of an individual, because without health, we cannot do anything by ourselves and it is not only physical. This is why the WHO defines health as “a state of complete
physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence
of disease or infirmity”. So let’s take care of ourselves and go to the approved health facilities if we have a problem with our physical
or mental health.
Collected by Ferdinand Niabie