West Region embraces Hope and Healing International funded projects to cater for Persons with Disabilities
Major stakeholders, mainly interested government departments in the West region of Cameroon have wholeheartedly embraced the CBC Health Services’ clamor to provide holistic healthcare services to persons with disabilities in the entire region with particular focus on children with disabilities.
Representatives from the following agencies: Governor’s Office, Regional Delegations of Health, Basic and Secondary Education, Social Affairs and the CBC Health Services led by Prof. Tih Pius Muffih, met on September 21, 2023 at the Conference Hall of the Sare Hotel in Bafoussam to set up a Technical Working Group that would fast-track future perspectives of the initiative.
The future perspectives include among others; to establish a school disability program for eye and other forms of disability, continue activities on river blindness and neglected clubfoot, establish a multi-year program for river blindness and expand the scope of activities to involve more districts in the region. This initiative is supported with funding from the Hope and Healing International, Canada via the Socio-Economic Empowerment of People with Disabilities (SEEPD) program of the CBC Health Services.
In a presentation, SEEPD Assistant Program Manager, Tamon James disclosed that since 2021, the Hope and Healing International has been supporting the CBC Health Services in implementing activities in the West region in three initiatives: River blindness/prevention of blindness, neglected clubfoot/other bone deformities and obstetric fistula using the CBR approach. These resulted in major achievements such as the provision of didactic materials to over 200 children treated with bone deformities including over 70 with neglected clubfoot, provision of livelihood support to families of these children, treatment of 10 girls and women with fistula and the profiling of over 2000 children with disabilities among others..
From these achievements as justifications to expand the scope of activities to other districts and divisions in the region, Mr. Tamon solicited for total collaboration from the stakeholders, a requested they quickly granted in the discussions that ensued the presentation. This led to the formation of a Technical Working Group led by Mr. Nkouongnam Inoussa, an official from the West Regional Delegation of Health with members from the Delegations of Basic and Secondary Education, Social Affairs whose Delegate, Mr. Njie Fidelis admonished the CBC Health Services to add an element of psychosocial support in the initiative, Women Empowerment and the Family, Municipal Councils, officials from the department of school health and the CBC Health Services.
Addressing participants before and after the discussions, the Director of Health Services, Prof. Tih Pius Muffih said, “I am convinced that the collaboration we have demonstrated will enable us all contribute effectively in the elimination of disabilities in the West region”. The DHS urged the stakeholders to play their roles so that these initiatives of the CBC Health Services will contribute to improve health and the social status of the population of the West region.
Prof. Tih said the expectations of the CBC Health Services are to obtain administrative support from the Regional Delegations of Public Health, Social Affairs, Women’s Empowerment and the Family, Basic Education, Secondary Education, and Municipal Councils to implement activities in the communities; obtain administrative support to implement school health programs to prevent, treat and rehabilitate disabilities; expand CBR work to cover the entire West region; ensure regular reporting to stakeholders and adopt a district approach to identification, referral, treatment, rehabilitation and follow up of people with disabilities.
Quizzed on his impression of the formation of the Technical Working Group, the chairman, Mr. Nkouongnam Inoussa saluted the wisdom and experience of the Director of Health Services, Prof. Tih Pius for making the proposal. He pledged that his Committee will work hard to foster the aspirations of the CBC Health Services in the West region especially in the domain of services to persons with disabilities. The chairman of the Technical Working Group thanked the Hope and Healing International Canada for funding the CBC Health Services to carry out this initiative in the West region of Cameroon.