Kumbo: Patient numbers drop significantly at BBH, Shisong hospitals due to insecurity

By Hans Ngala (with field reports)

As the Anglophone Conflict drags on, the health sector has been severely affected. Two of Cameroon’s leading private hospitals—Banso Baptist Hospital (BBH) and St. Elizabeth Catholic Hospital, Shisong—have witnessed a significant drop in patient turnout.
According to a staff member at Banso Baptist Hospital who spoke to CNA, the drop in patient numbers is especially evident in the fewer inpatients (patients admitted) in different wards in the hospital.
According to our source, as of April 10:
• The Men’s Ward, which has 36 beds, only had 7 patients
• The Women’s Ward had just 5 patients with 36 beds
• The Children’s Ward also had just 5 patients with 36 beds
• The Surgical Ward had 15 patients with 45 beds.
• The Wound Care Ward had 10 patients with 15 beds
• Emergency Ward had 4 patients with 8 beds
• Maternity had 8 new mothers with 36 beds
Our source at BBH stated that while the numbers are still comparatively lower than pre-2017, when the Crisis escalated, it was still a marked improvement from 202,4 when the hospital had less than 7 in-patients around this same time last year.
At Shisong, the situation was very similar, and while our source at Shisong didn’t give us exact statistics, she noted that the hospital’s inpatient numbers had also significantly plummeted. The hardest-hit was Shisong’s Cardiac Center, with very few patients given how delicate cardiac surgery can be as well as how costly it is.
From the statistics obtained, it is evident that surgical cases and wounds (likely resulting from car/bike accidents and also from gunshot wounds due to the crisis), are still the leading cause of hospital admissions.
BBH and Shisong each have total bed capacities of nearly 500 beds each, but the total number of patients only stood at 50 in-patients as of April 10, showing just how severely the Anglophone Crisis has affected healthcare in the region.
Patients with chronic conditions like diabetes, TB ,or HIV who need to be on constant medication are also severely affected as supplies of medication dry up due to US President Donald Trump cutting off aid.
BBH is largely sustained thanks to the CBC authorities expanding healthcare services to junior hospitals like Etoug-Ebe in Yaounde and Mboppi in Douala. Those at Shisong have adopted a new strategy, conducting mobile clinics in different towns and transporting patients needing surgery to Shisong using the hospital ambulance or van.
Medical evacuations by the CBC helicopter and airplane have been discontinued. The helicopter and airplane have been moved from Ntongii (a village about 1 hour outside of Kumbo) to the Mvan airfield in Yaounde, dealing a severe blow to critical patients in remote areas of the NW who previously benefited from timely evacuation by helicopter or plane.