The Christian Blind Mission (CBM) has been praised for its contribution to improving the ear and hearing care situation in Cameroon. The Secretary General at the Ministry of Public Health, Prof. Njock Louis Richard was speaking during the commemoration of the 2025 edition of the World Hearing Day on March 3, 2025, at the CBC Health Services Resource Center Mvan in Yaounde. The event marked the beginning of a 3 day workshop on primary ear and hearing care trainer of trainers workshop under the theme: Changing mindset: Empower yourself to make ear and hearing care a reality in Cameroon.
Presiding at the event, Prof. Njock highlighted the role that the CBC Health Services and its funding partners are playing in developing a national plan for Ear and Hearing Care in Cameroon. The event was co-chaired by the Director of CBC Health Services, Mr. Ngum Samuel and the CBM Country Director, Mr. Fon Julius.
During the event, Mr. Ngum Samuel noted the importance of ear and hearing care in health care delivery. The Director underscored that the training of trainers is an intentional effort by the CBC Health Services, BMZ, CBM, and Ministry of Public Health to strengthen the capacities of health professionals to improve Ear and Hearing Care services in Cameroon. He appreciated BMZ, and CBM for funding towards the training and the commemoration of World Hearing Day which is intended to raise awareness on ear and hearing care.
The CBM Country Director, Mr. Fon Juluis, on his part, noted that CBM is committed to working with stakeholders within the “Strengthening Ear and Hearing Care Capacities in Cameroon project” to improve the situation of ear and hearing care in the country. He appreciated the CBC Health Services as an implementing partner and the Ministry of Public Health for its collaboration towards the implementation of the project.
Addressing all present at the event, the Supervisor of Projects, Prof. TIh Pius underlined that as part of World Hearing Day activities, 22 Ear and Hearing Care Clinical Officers from 12 facilities in the Northwest, Centre, and Littoral regions were undergoing a 3 day training within the context of the “Strengthening Ear and Hearing Capacities in Cameroon Project” implemented with funding from the German Ministry for Economic Development and Cooperation (BMZ) and the Christian Blind Mission (CBM). He used the commemoration to encourage healthcare providers to learn and take action through education, prevention, and provision of services to those with ear diseases and impairments.
The lead facilitator of the training was CBM Senior Advisor for Ear and Hearing Care, Dr. Diego Santana from Germany. The Ear and Hearing Care specialist revealed that the World Health Organization estimates that over 1.5 billion people experience some degree of hearing loss which could grow to 2.5 billion by 2025. This situation is quite disturbing to health care providers, thus building their capacities on improving service delivery is a good strategy in the right direction.
Healthcare providers who participated in the commemoration have joined their voices to call on the population to take proactive steps to protect their hearing, get regular hearing checks, and use hearing aids if needed.
