Dr TEMGOUA Serges “Our laboratory is equipped with a biochemistry apparatus and a counter »

Chief doctor and Director of the Balessing District Medical Centre, he presents the structure he is in charge of, the human resources, the technical facilities at his disposal, without forgetting the difficulties he faces on a daily basis and finally his plea to the higher hierarchy for the well-being of the people of the District.

Can you give us a brief presentation of the CMA Balessing?
The CMA of Balessing is a 5th category health facility that we have been running for almost 3 years. We offer services in general
medicine, physiotherapy, dental
care, maternity, paediatrics, laboratory, vaccination, pharmacy
and ultrasound. It is also and above all a qualified staff, namely: dental surgeons, general practitioners, medical and health technicians, 2 of whom we have recruited, 2 physiotherapists, a midwife and 3 midwives for the maternity ward, because the Balessing CMA registers an average of 25 births/month. We should therefore provide the maternity ward with enough qualified personnel to meet the demand. At the CMA of Balessing,
all the services are trying to upgrade themselves to offer quality care to the population and avoid as much as possible long trips to Bafoussam; without forgetting the vaccination service which is functional every day.
What is the capacity of your MCA?
The Balessing AMC has a capacity of 46 beds and a monthly attendance
of about 120 new patients.
What are the needs of the Balessing
MCA at the moment?
Our needs are enormous. However,
it must be said that we still benefit from the support of the Penka-Michel Town Hall, certain elites and the Balessing Development
Committee. The needs of the CMA are of several kinds, however:
-Infrastructure needs
The buildings that house us date from the time of the Germans.
They need to be refurbished.
New buildings need to be constructed to increase the capacity of our patients and to accommodate in the best possible
way the various services we offer, a reception room that is well equipped to respect the privacy
of visitors and to make the patients’ stay within our walls more pleasant. Secondly, particular
emphasis must be placed on the latrines. The existing ones have fallen down but although we have managed to build new ones thanks to CODEBAL, they are insufficient. The need for a block of 6 latrines in addition to the existing one to preserve the health and comfort of our hospitalized
patients.
-Needs to improve our technical facilities
In this area, the Balessing CMA needs an X-ray machine, as it is located on an accident-prone road and we are obliged to refer all the accident victims we receive
to Bafoussam. Because, in the whole district, no structure has such a service. In addition to this need, the need for an ambulance
is acute. Even for the transport
of serious accidents, we are obliged to use on-board means to evacuate them to the regional
capital. This causes a great delay in the treatment of these patients. We are also facing, and have been for several years, the problem of the instability of the electrical energy which forces us to supply the vaccine fridge with gas. When we arrived, we had solar panels installed, but nowadays, the batteries are all out of order and it takes about 1,200,000 FCFA to replace them. At present, we use a generator whose maintenance is a real problem
here. As far as the supply of drinking water is concerned, we only have one well, which must also be used to supply the local population, which makes it increasingly difficult to start the pump with the only functional generator we have.
-The need for qualified personnel too
At this level, the support of the town hall and certain local elites allows us to recruit some. But sending qualified personnel from the hierarchy would ease our financial burden, given our precarious
financial situation.
In view of this rather worrying situation, what would be your plea?
We pray that the hierarchy will give us considerable help in restoring
the energy supply of the CMA in Balessing through solar energy. This would save us additional
expenses on fuel and gas. It is important to point out that at the Balessing CMA, patients are taken care of as soon as they arrive before they pay. And we have several unpaid bills from patients who have been cured and discharged without payment.
As a result, the pharmacy sometimes finds itself very short of funds. It is therefore quite difficult
without sufficient financial means, but we continue to do it because our job is to take care of the health of the population.
Interview by Adèle BITGA