Contextual Design of Biomedical Equipment in View in Cameroon
The Cameroon Baptist Convention (CBC) Health Services’ Deputy Director for Administration and Finance, Mr. Warri Denis has granted an audience to Karlheinz Samenjo, Co-Director for Inclusive Global Health Lab at Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands.
The meeting of the two personalities on July 26, 2023, follows a facility (Nkwen Baptist Hospital) visit by Samenjo to identify opportunities to develop interventions that can support healthcare provision to people in Low-Resource communities. During the tour of the Hospital facilitated by Dr. Bonko Neville, an ENT Specialist, he and Samenjo engaged with Biomedical Engineers and Doctors to discuss medical device gaps and how collaboration with CBC Health Services will ensure cost-effective, efficient, and lasting solutions.
The Dutch-based Inclusive Global Health Lab designs medical equipment to suit the context of its beneficiaries. Their focus on African countries is with respect to the realities in these countries, which sometimes hamper the effective functioning of medical equipment designed without taking into consideration the specificities of the host countries.
The two parties are looking at a possible collaboration that will also facilitate the training and upgrade of skills “skills transfer” for Biomedical Engineers within the CBC Health Services for the design, production, and eventual effective repairs of biomedical equipment.
According to Samenjo, the initiative is also geared toward a Biomedical University in Cameroon, and he is confident of the capability of CBC Health Services to realize this lofty dream. The choice of CBC Health Services and the confidence bestowed on it by the Inclusive Global Health Lab has been informed by the services rendered and the rapid growth of the institution in recent years in its provision of healthcare to all.
The visit comes at a time when CBC Health Services is undertaking training of Biomedical Engineers under its Baptist School of Public Health (BSPH) in Mutengene. With the improvement in human resources and the development of skills in Biomedical Engineering design, production, and distribution, all CBC Health Services facilities in Cameroon shall benefit from environmentally adapted equipment. The CBC Health Services may serve as a pilot, but there are plans to eventually scale out this initiative to other sectors of health to benefit the whole country.
Mr. Warri expressed appreciation for choosing CBC Health Services to work with in Cameroon. He also made arrangements for Samenjo to visit the Baptist School of Public Health where the Biomedical Engineers are trained, as well as the CBC Health Services Central Pharmacy that oversees the distribution of all supplies/equipment to facilities and also does the production of some basic hospital supplies.
Also present during this meeting were Dr. Bonko Neville, the Public Relations Officer for CBC Health Services Mr. Wango Barnabas, and the Communication Head, Clementina Njang Yong
It is worth noting that the work of the Inclusive Global Health Lab is already felt in some African countries including Nigeria, Uganda, and Kenya. Samenjo has positive impressions on the Cameroon healthcare landscape, albeit possible areas for growth.