WORLD HEALTH DAY: A round of applause to Mission hospitals for saving millions of Cameroonians

By Hans Ngala

Healthy Beginnings, Hopeful Futures is the theme for this year’s World Health Day, being observed today, April 7.

It helps to look at the healthy beginnings of Cameroon’s largest private healthcare organization – the Cameroon Baptist Convention (CBC) Health Services, along with sister denominations like the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon and the Catholic Church.
The Northwest and Southwest regions of Cameroon have largely been developed thanks to the impressive work of these three churches. Millions of Cameroonians who would otherwise have died from various diseases or medical deformities, have been saved thanks to the work of this giant denomination – the first Christian church in Cameroon. When Banso Baptist Hospital (BBH) was created in 1949, it was the only hospital in Nso, Donga Mantung and surrounding areas for two years. Mbingo Baptist Hospital was created two years later in 1952 to help care for leprosy patients at a time when the disease was very rampant and patients were losing arms and legs and even dying from it.
Today, the health mission of the Cameroon Baptist Convention which began in Banso has spread to all ten regions of Cameroon. A few years ago, the Lutheran Mission in the Far North approached the CBC and sold one of its struggling health facilities to the CBC. It is now known as Meskine Baptist Health Center, cementing the CBC’s coverage in all ten regions of the country.
Etoug-Ebe Baptist Hospital and Mboppi Baptist Hospital were some of the first CBC health facilities to be created on the other side of the Mungo River.
The CBC Health Services is the undisputed giant when it comes to health care delivery in Cameroon, providing jobs to thousands of Cameroonians who would otherwise be jobless as government failed to prioritize health and education in the region, only creating universities in Buea and Bamenda in 1994 and 2010 respectively – much later than state universities created in Yaounde and Douala in the 1970s. The PCC and the Catholics also contribute to healthcare and job creation tremendously, also employing thousands jointly.
As the Anglophone Crisis rages on, the health of many Cameroonians has suffered. Many have been injured physically by the warring parties ie soldiers and separatists, and some Christian mission staff have even lost their lives. The case of Shey Janet in 2022 is still very fresh. Janet was shot as she and 15 other CBC nurses and doctors went for medical outreach and were returning to Bamenda around Mile 90, Nsongwa. In the same year, the administrator of BBH and two nurses (one of whom was a breastfeeding mother) were arrested and detained for doing their jobs as medical professionals and treating separatist fighters. The CBC is a non-partisan denomination and does not take sides in the ongoing conflict, hence CBC hospitals treat both soldiers and separatists when they are injured. However, the trigger-happy soldiers often harass CBC medical staff for treating fighters.
The conflict has adversely affected hospitals like BBH and Mbingo, the CBC’s largest hospitals where patient turnout has dropped from more than one thousand a month to less than 200 a month. This has also affected the organization financially but thanks to the CBC’s expansion to Francophone areas like Yaounde and Douala, the deficit at Mbingo and BBH is being made up for. St. Elizabeth Catholic Hospital, Shisong has also suffered tremendously. Unlike the PCC and CBC who have satellite hospitals, Shisong is probably the hardest-hit. The hospital has also seen a significant drop in its patient turnout.
The CBC Health Services along with its sister churches like the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon and the Catholic Church, have been at the forefront of health campaigns such as educating Cameroonians on the reduction of stigma towards persons living with HIV; advocating for the inclusion of persons living with disabilities; championing infection prevention by using alcohol-based hand sanitizers (long before COVID-19); treating clubfeet, cleft lips and palates and educating Cameroonians on cervical and breast cancer. These and many other efforts have helped to save millions of Cameroonian lives over the years while creating jobs for thousands and giving quality healthcare to Cameroonians who would otherwise not have it.
The Presbyterian Church in Cameroon (PCC) Health Services through its own hospitals and health centers, especially its specialized eye hospital at Acha-Tugi has established itself as a trusted healthcare provider too. PCC hospitals and health centers across the country have been collaborating with other mission hospitals and government health providers.
The Catholic Church, notably through St. Elizabeth Catholic Hospital at Shisong and the Cardiac Center at Shisong, run one of the best cardiac hospitals in West-Central Africa. Thanks to the Cardiac Center, Cameroonians have access to state-of-the-art cardiology services which equal the same standards enjoyed in North American and European countries.
This edition of World Health Day is an occasion for us to give a round of applause to the CBC Health Services, the PCC Health Services and the Catholic Church for placing Cameroon on the map as one of the countries in West Africa with the best private healthcare systems. We should celebrate the thousands of workers in these health facilities, including nurses, doctors, pastors/priests, chaplains, Reverend Sisters, security guards, drivers, accountants and all who work in these institutions to keep us all healthy.
US President Donald Trump announced several weeks ago that PEPFAR – the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief was being discontinued, leaving thousands of HIV patients without medication and hundreds of CBC staff working under the HIV-Free Project, without jobs. Nevertheless, we remain grateful for their dedicated service to Cameroonians and trust that alternative funding will be found to ensure that the CBC continues to provide crucial life-saving services to all Cameroonians through its more than 50 hospitals and health centers across the country.
These three mainstream churches have filled the gap left by underfunded and often corrupt government hospitals, where patients are frequently required to pay upfront before receiving any treatment — a life-threatening policy in emergencies. In contrast, Mission hospitals are renowned for prioritizing care regardless of a patient’s financial situation. For many in isolated villages across the NW and SW, a Mission health facility is the only access to modern medicine, making it not just an alternative, but a lifeline. Hence, it is fitting to give the leaders of these denominations their flowers on World Health Day.ay.