CBC Health Services/MOH Train Trainers of Nursing and Midwifery Schools on Clubfoot, Ponseti Method
Ninety-one teachers of nursing and midwifery schools in Cameroon have been trained on clubfoot deformity and its treatment using the Ponseti technique. The 2-day training which constituted two groups took place at the CBC Health Services Resource Centre Mvan, Yaounde from July 3-4, 2023. The workshop was organized by the Cameroon Clubfoot Care Project in collaboration with the Human Resource Department of the Ministry of Public Health (MOH).
Opening the trainings, the Director of Human Resources at the Ministry of Public Health, Mr. Eyenga Njome Elisee stated that the Minister of Public Health attaches a lot of importance to clubfoot and its treatment method, reason why the Ponseti method was approved as the gold standard for treating clubfoot in Cameroon. Mr. Eyenga said the objective of the workshop was to train teachers of midwives and senior nurses for them to effectively deliver lectures on the new module on clubfoot that was inserted in the training programs of health personnel. This will contribute to government’s effort to ensure early detection and referral of all children born with clubfoot.
The Clinical Supervisor of the Cameroon Clubfoot Project, Dr. Ndasi Henry in his welcome speech, disclosed that the Cameroon Clubfoot Care Project started piloting the project in 4 health facilities in 2014 but over the years, the project has been extended to 19 health facilities. He added that one of the goals of the project has been to collaborate with the MOH to strengthen the capacity of health personnel in clubfoot management using the Ponseti method. The workshop was one of the strategies to achieve that goal Dr. Nasi noted. The Clinical Supervisor appreciated MOH for inserting a module on clubfoot in the curriculum for training health personnel and going a step further to organize trainings on clubfoot. He expressed the wish for the Ministry to put in place a guideline on the treatment of Clubfoot in Cameroon like other health issues in the country.
Expatiating on the partnership between the CBC Health Services and the MOH in the area of clubfoot, the Coordinator of the Cameroon Clubfoot Care Project, Mr. Tamon James said the journey with the Ministry began in 2014 when the project started. He recounted that the coming of Mercy Ships to Cameroon in 2017, and exposure of the CCCP initiative to Government, the approval in 2019 of the Ponseti method as the gold standard for the treatment in Cameroon by MOH, the signing of an MoU between the CBC Health Services and MOH have resulted to the development and insertion of a module on clubfoot and the Ponseti method into the curriculum of training schools for nurses, midwifes and Physiotherapists in 2021.
Mr. Tamon noted that it is from that background that the workshop in Yaounde was organized. This workshop was preceded by another workshop, which took place in 2022 for teachers of Physiotherapy schools in Cameroon.
The lead facilitator for the workshop was Dr. Ndasi Henry, the CCCP Clinical Supervisor assisted by Physiotherapists who are Ponseti method specialists from the approved clubfoot treatment centers. They drilled the participants on clubfoot deformity and the Ponseti method, which begins with manipulation, casting, tenotomy, and bracing. They defined clubfoot as a deformity that a child is born with feet or foot twisted inward. Each facilitator underlined the importance of early detection and referral for treatment as a way of preventing disability in the child.
The expectations from the Director of Human Resources at MOH, the Project Coordinator, and the Clinical Supervisor are for the participants to transmit the knowledge acquired to the students so that they will be graduating with knowledge to detect and refer children born with clubfoot for treatment. In an interview with the press, the Director of Human Resource, Mr. Eyenga commended the partnership between the CBC Health Services and the MOH and recognized the CBC Health as the organization that has piloted the Ponseti method of treating clubfoot in Cameroon with support from CBM.
At the end of the workshop, one of the participants, Jumo Olga Ngafeeson, a midwife trainer from a Private Training School for Health Personnel in Bafoussam said she has learned a lot from the workshop and will be able to teach the students a module on clubfoot. “My expectation of the students is that they will be able to detect clubfoot cases in the delivery room, postpartum and neonatal ward and refer for treatment,” Ogla said.
It is hoped that this strategy adopted by the CCCP key partners; the CBC Health Services, the Ministry of Public Health, and CBM the funding partner, to ensure early detection and treatment of clubfoot using the Ponseti method will yield more fruits in the days ahead