OPINION: Cameroonians should celebrate the CBC Health Services. Here’s why

By Hans Ngala

The Cameroon Baptist Convention (CBC) Health Services is undoubtedly one of Cameroon’s largest health care providers – probably the largest in the private sector. With more than 5 hospitals and over 50 health centers spread all over Cameroon, the organization has indeed made inroads into all parts of Cameroon.

At a time when Cameroon is bombarded with a myriad of internal crises from the Boko Haram terrorist attacks in the North of Cameroon, refugee influx from the eastern borders and the Anglophone Crisis, the CBC Health Services have managed to brave the adversities (which affect most of the towns where some of their facilities are located) to keep on supplying much-needed medication to patients especially in the Northwest and Southwest of the country.

The CBC Health Services is an arm of the Cameroon Baptist Convention with a Christian approach to health care and perhaps, there is no gainsaying that God has truly been with the organization.
Some of the organization’s staff have been killed in the line of duty, simply providing health care to locals. This was the fate of Shey Janet, a nurse based at Nkwen Baptist Health Center and others have been thrown into jail for providing medical assistance to those deemed by the state to be “enemies”. This was the fate of Jean Sama who spent nearly 3 months in jail along with two nurses who were released earlier. News of the arrest of the trio, shocked Cameroonians when CNA broke the story.
It would be unimaginable the state at which health care would be in Cameroon if the CBC Health Services was out of the picture. The organization’s HIV/AIDS treatment strategy is one of the best the country has seen as it has encouraged people to go for their tests and to be regular on their treatments, the organization championed the treatment of children with clubfeet (a condition which some Cameroonian communities linked to witchcraft). Its Ponsetti method for clubfoot treatment has even been copied by government-run facilities and the CBC Health Services continues to be a champion for inclusive education and work places, encouraging the education of persons with disabilities. To this end, it runs two specialized schools for disabled persons.
We must celebrate the thousands of workers who face various challenges as they work in sometimes difficult and isolated environments to provide health services.

The CBC Health Services does not focus on profit-making, but on creating an impact and making a change in the quality of life of those it caters for. For this reason, it is worth commending the fact that even with a limited budget, God has used the leaders of this organization, given them wisdom and it has continued to grow and to provide much needed health care to millions of Cameroonians over the years.