The presence of the Cameroon Baptist Convention (CBC) Health Services at the Africa Christian Health Associations Platform (ACHAP) 9th Biennial conference, hosted in Cameroon was quite visible. From secretarial duties, logistics, registration, media coverage, Information Technology (IT) to Security Support services, CBC Health Services workers were present.
Prof. Tih Pius Muffih, Director of CBC Health Services in appraisal noted that it had been a long journey of several months of preparation prior to the conference. He noted that the staff kept the steam of hard work alive during the conference which was indeed a success.
Besides the support services offered by the CBC Health Services at ACHAP 2019, some workers featured prominently in the breakout sessions and discussions. As one of the robust providers of holistic health care in Cameroon, the organisation had a lot to show for at the conference in matters of primary health care, which was at the epicenter of discussion at 9th Biennial Conference.
One of the outstanding exhibitions the CBC Health Services presented was a concept known as ‘Maternity Waiting Homes’. The project was aimed at encouraging the uptake of antenatal service by women in rural communities in Cameroon. The presentation highlighted successes recorded on improving infant and maternal child health.
The ‘Maternity Waiting Homes’ as highlighted by Eugene Foyeth and Dr. Francios Chimoun, all from the CBC Health Services, is a proven strategy in encouraging more women to enroll in antenatal clinics during pregnancy and after birth, and to follow up with the immunization calendar for their babies through infant welfare clinics.
Mobilizing finances to fund major healthcare services in Africa by Christian Health Associations (CHA) remains a huge barrier to universal health coverage. Hence it was incumbent on the CHAs to draft and discuss new ways of mobilizing financial resources to promote healthcare in the communities.
In this light, Esther Kuni, HIV-Free Project Adviser took to the rostrum to elucidate on some of the financial models CBC Health Services used in the Local Capacity Initiative (LCI) to scale up HIV testing, screening, and testing amongst community leaders.
One the major outcomes at the breakout session on “Financing Models for Primary Health Care and Universal Health Coverage” was a call on CHAs to be financially accountable to donors who are reliable partners in meeting health needs of the population.
Last but not the least was the presentation on “Optimizing Health Workforce for Primary Health Care” by CBC Health Services’ Life Abundant Program (LAP) Administrator, Peter Kakute and supported by Godlove Nkuoh. The two presenters highlighted the pros and cons of building, planning, and optimizing a PHC workforce health worker life cycle approach within the LAP and Nutrition Improvement programs of the CBC Health Services.
