The Minister of Social Affairs, Pauline Irene Nguene on Friday, 15 May 2020 signed a partnership agreement with the Cameroon Baptist Convention Health Services, CBCHS.
By Fonban Emmanuel
The partnership between MINAS and CBCHS which took place at the conference hall of the Ministry had the representation of top officials of the two parties engaged in the partnership.
It should be noted that this partnership with a three-year mandate expected to end in 2023, seeks to foster collaboration between MINAS and CBCHS, facilitate the development of strategies to mainstream efforts of the two parties to better the wellbeing of persons living with disabilities.
Speaking during the ceremony, the Director of CBCHS in the person of Prof Tih Pius Muffih expressed his gratitude to the Minister of Social Affairs who endorsed the partnership.
The CBCHS Director went further to outline some of the health gains CBCHS has recorded since the 1950s till date.
“We have successfully prevented disabilities from a total of 6,720,000 Cameroonians through huge investments in eye health; physiotherapy and orthopedic care, ear, nose and throat and club foot services and mental health. We are thankful to the Christofel-Blinden Mission (CBM) for funding these services” said the Director.
He added that the CBCHS through its Mbingo Baptist Hospital has successfully treated leprosy patients from the 1950s till date.
These and more were some of the achievements of the CBCHS that excited Minister Irene Nguene to get into a deal with CBCHS confidently as a result of their outstanding performance in the private health sector.
“We have been working informally and you know that we are an institution and they are an organization.
It was better for us to formalize this partnership. This is because if they have to benefit from a portion of our institutional support, this has to be formalized.
This is why the aim is not only to improve on the wellbeing of persons with disabilities but also to foster collaboration and improve on development of strategies” said the Minister of Social Affairs, Pauline Irene Nguene.
The partnership is expected to relieve CBCHS from the hard experiences it has confronted as expressed by the Program Manager for Empowerment and Disability Inclusive (EDID) Program in the person of Agho Glory.
“Primarily it is the government’s responsibility to take care of the socially vulnerable and underprivileged members of our society.
The CBC has been working in this path to support the government in this effort to reach out to person living with disabilities.
We have had challenges in bringing in assistive devices for persons with disabilities but because of the high custom duties, they are always not able to have these devices” she said.
It is recorded that the CBCHS is present so far in all the regions except the South Region of Cameroon.
Their commitment has yielded positive fruits on improving the health of Cameroonians and those living with disabilities. They however, expect the government to be able to support their working staff in these regions so that they can access more persons with disabilities.
With the high custom duties that have been charged in by the port authority when assistive devices from donors arrive the port, it is also expected that with this partnership, the Ministry of Social Affairs will help in the recovery of assistive devices from foreign donors when they arrive at the port.
“The Ministry of Social Affairs has taken an engagement, to work hand in glove with the CBC Health Services. We have the policies and the Ministry represents the government of Cameroon.
All what the Minister of Social Affairs has engaged in today as per the MOU is the engagement of the government to accompany CBCHS” said Angelica Mundi who is the Director at the Ministry of Social Affairs in Charge of Persons Living with Disabilities and the Old.
The partnership therefore is expected to take the activities of CBCHS to another level and also reflect the commitment of the government in working with the private sector in the domain of health.
