The health service in public health establishments in Africa reflects the precariousness in which populations live. Despite significant efforts having enabled the construction of reference establishments resulting from good bilateral and multilateral relations, the distribution remains unequal as does the quality of the services provided, which in certain nooks and crannies demonstrate a lack of motivation generated in part by poor support by the governing bodies of those who themselves are called upon to demonstrate professionalism through the quality of service that they are called upon to provide to others.
The vocation of health facilities among other things, to contribute to the well-being of citizens is undermined by the factors money and unsanitary conditions which respectively make these establishments places where it is only those who have the money which is king and spaces where some people do not like to go because they are afraid of leaving with other illnesses due to the pitiful state of some of them.
The evil is not only found within public establishments. Apart from those described as private establishments of reference where some prefer to go because they are sure to find not only well-maintained premises but also better care, private health establishments are not left out. Several were closed in 2023 as part of the health march campaign announced in 2022 by the Minister of Public Health in Cameroon for various reasons justifying clandestine operation.
The health field being a good business opportunity, some have found a way to earn their living by taking advantage in particular of the shortage of doctors and the latter's choice to offer their services in spaces where the conditions of work and the quality of remuneration promote quality service.
Several young doctors trained in Cameroon prefer to work outside the country and even outside the continent. Some official sources speak of thirty percent (30%) per year to demonstrate, the extent of these choices which are justified among other reasons by a dismal social status, the poor condition of the premises as well as the unsanitary environment of certain health facilities.
| Also read : The difficulty in obtaining quality treatment in a context of précariousness in Cameroun and Africa : what solutions?
In addition, medical assistance or care has a cost that many African countries cannot afford. Quality service is conditioned by the money factor and anyone who does not have it will not be served like it should be.
This harsh reality that we observe in our hospitals is not always due to a lack of humanism or a lack of consideration. It is the health systems which are not able to guarantee a quality service themselves because they not having the means for such a policy. Indeed, even if with the aim of relieving a little of the suffering of patients, pilot phases of universal health coverage have been undertaken by several African States, the road to achieving this is still very long because who says universal health coverage said among many others, a very high GDP per capita, industrialized and developed country. It is only in countries that meet these requirements that health care can be more effective.
In Africa, and in Cameroon in particular, at least one person has witnessed or experienced mistreatment, or known someone who has had this type of experience. It is not a question of focusing on deplorable and sometimes isolated facts to shoot individuals gratuitously and even unnecessarily but rather on a system that does not guarantee good supervision of health professionals as well as the maintenance of work environment.
It is the quality of these systems that justifies the nonchalance and indecency with which certain patients are treated in spaces where even the reception must be therapeutic.
Health establishments are one of the places where you should leave as satisfied and optimistic as possible whatever the circumstances. But unfortunately, the behaviour displayed by certain “health professionals” does not coincide with these requirements. Additional efforts in terms of salaries, infrastructure and sanitation in particular could help reduce the extent of these worrying facts.
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