A group of Cameroonian nurses in the Federal Republic of Germany have set up the Cameroonian Nurses Association (CNA) to help carry out their valuable work.

The organization, which will be inaugurated this Saturday, comprises registered nurses working in Germany from Cameroon.

There is a huge number of Cameroonian nurses in Germany at the moment and many are based in the North Rhein Westphalia region.

Cameroon Concord News understands that the group was established to unite nurses of Cameroonian origin under one umbrella and to promote excellence in healthcare, professional development and community well-being.

The Cameroonian Nurses Association (CNA) also strives to provide nursing support, share vital health information, and encourage healthy lifestyles within communities.

Through collaboration with institutions in Cameroon and Germany, CNA aims to enhance nursing education and create pathways for Cameroonian nurses aspiring to build successful careers abroad, while contributing to improved healthcare standards at home and beyond.

The founding members are experienced healthcare professionals who are seeking to bring Cameroonian nurses together to promote collaboration, mutual support, and professional growth.

The Saturday 20 maiden event beginning at 4 pm prompt will be hosted at Talent Werkstatt, Oberhausenerstr 192 in Mulheim Styrum.

By Chi Prudence Asong in Mulheim

Health authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo have declared a new outbreak of the Ebola virus, which has killed 15 people since the end of August, the health minister said Thursday.

The new outbreak is in central Kasai province, Samuel Roger Kamba told reporters in the capital Kinshasa.

The last outbreak of Ebola in the vast central African nation was three years ago and killed six people.

Twenty-eight suspected cases have been recorded, according to provisional figures, with the first case reported on August 20 in a 34-year-old pregnant woman who was admitted to hospital.

“It’s the 16th outbreak recorded in our country,” Kamba said.

First identified in 1976 and thought to have crossed over from bats, Ebola is a deadly viral disease spread through direct contact with bodily fluids, causing severe bleeding and organ failure.

The deadliest outbreak in the DRC – whose population numbers more than 100 million – killed nearly 2,300 people between 2018 and 2020.

Six strains of Ebola exist.

Source: France 24

A cholera outbreak in Sudan’s war-ravaged capital has claimed 70 lives in two days, health officials said Thursday, as Khartoum faces a mounting health emergency after more than two years of brutal conflict.

Much of the Sudanese capital’s health and sanitation infrastructure, including this Khartoum hospital, was devastated by two years of fighting between the regular army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.

The health ministry for Khartoum state said it recorded 942 new infections and 25 deaths on Wednesday, following 1,177 cases and 45 deaths on Tuesday.

The surge in infections comes weeks after drone strikes blamed on the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) knocked out the water and electricity supply across the capital.

The capital has been a battleground throughout two years of war between the Sudanese army and the RSF.

The army-backed government announced last week that it had dislodged RSF fighters from their last bases in Khartoum State two months after retaking the heart of the capital from the paramilitaries.

The city remains devastated with health and sanitation infrastructure barely functioning.

Up to 90 percent of hospitals in the conflict’s main battlegrounds have been forced out of service by the fighting.

The cholera outbreak has piled further pressure on the healthcare system.

The federal health ministry reported 172 deaths in the week to Tuesday, 90 percent of them in Khartoum state.

Authorities say 89 percent of patients in isolation centres are recovering, but warn that deteriorating environmental conditions are driving a surge in cases.

Cholera is endemic to Sudan, but outbreaks have become worse and more frequent since the war broke out.

– ‘Brink of disaster’ –

Since August 2024, health authorities have recorded more than 65,000 cases and over 1,700 deaths across 12 of Sudan’s 18 states.

Khartoum state alone has seen more than 7,700 cases, more than 1,000 of them in children under five, and 185 deaths since January.

“Sudan is on the brink of a full-scale public health disaster,” the International Rescue Committee’s Sudan director, Eatizaz Yousif, said.

“The combination of conflict, displacement, destroyed critical infrastructure and limited access to clean water is fuelling the resurgence of cholera and other deadly diseases.”

Aid agencies warn that without urgent action, the spread of disease is likely to worsen with the arrival of the rainy season next month, which severely limits humanitarian access.

The war between the paramilitaries and the regular army has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced 13 million since it erupted in April 2023.

At least three million people fled from Khartoum state alone, but more than 34,000 have returned since its recapture by the army in recent months, according to UN figures.

Most have returned to find their homes devastated by the fighting, with no access to clean water or basic services.

According to the UN children’s agency UNICEF, more than one million children are at risk in cholera-affected areas of Khartoum.

Source:  AFP

King Charles has sent a personal message to fellow cancer patients, speaking of the “daunting and at times frightening experience” for cancer sufferers and their loved ones.

In a heartfelt message to guests at a Buckingham Palace reception for cancer charities, the King spoke about becoming a cancer “statistic” – referencing the more than 1,000 new cases recorded in the UK every day.

He said his experience of living with cancer had shown that “the darkest moments of illness can be illuminated by the greatest compassion”.

The message doesn’t provide an update on the progress of the King’s own cancer treatment, but royal sources say he is continuing in a positive direction.

The King was diagnosed with an undisclosed form of cancer in February 2024 and continues to receive regular treatment, which is said to be successful and that he is getting better.

There was a brief hospital stay for the King in March after he suffered side effects, but he was well enough in April for a state visit to Italy with a busy schedule and is said to have plans for further overseas trips.

There has been an attempt to be more open about his health problems – and this latest message reflects his sense of a shared experience with the many other families affected by cancer.

The King’s statement continued: “But as one among those statistics myself, I can vouch for the fact that it can also be an experience that brings into sharp focus the very best of humanity.”

He praised the “community of care” of those who helped cancer patients, for their humanity as well as their expertise.

The King highlighted “the profound impact of human connection – whether in the careful explanation from a specialist nurse, the hand held by a hospice volunteer, or the shared experience in a support group”.

“While every patient’s journey may be different, together you are ensuring that a cancer diagnosis need never mean facing the future without hope and support,” said the King.

He quoted Dame Deborah James, who died of bowel cancer in 2022 and whose parents are guests at the reception, who said: “Have no regrets; and always, always have rebellious hope.”

The reception at Buckingham Palace on Wednesday evening, attended by the King and Queen Camilla, is in honour of community projects helping people who are living with cancer and for health groups trying to prevent cancer.

Among the guests will be representatives of cancer charities including Macmillan Cancer Support, Breast Cancer Now, Maggie’s and Children’s Hospice South West.

The reception includes displays showing the work of groups helping people affected by cancer, including Wigs for Heroes and Move Dance Feel, which uses dance to support women with cancer.

At the Palace there are also champions of cancer charities, people living with cancer and people who lost relatives, including radio presenter Adele Roberts, former footballer Ashley Cain and actor Richard E Grant.

“Every day we see the impact that cancer is having on people’s lives and that experience is even worse for some people because of who they are or where they live, which is entirely unacceptable. We are on a mission to transform cancer care, but we cannot do it on our own,” said Gemma Peters, chief executive officer at Macmillan Cancer Support.

Source: BBC

Cameroon on Thursday began vaccinating children against polio as part of a synchronized regional vaccination campaign to protect 83 million children in the Lake Chad Basin.

According to Cameroon’s health ministry, health workers in 10 regions are administering the life-saving jab to children aged 0-5 in homes, schools, markets and other public places.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said the campaign is part of renewed efforts to eradicate circulating polio variant type 2 in Cameroon, Chad, the Central African Republic, Niger, and Nigeria.

According to the WHO, a total of 210 poliovirus type 2 detections have been reported across Cameroon, Chad, Nigeria, and Niger, 140 of which resulted in paralysis.

Although no cases have been reported in the Central African Republic so far, the WHO said that more than 50 percent of the polio cases reported in Chad in 2024 are linked to the strain circulating in Cameroon, underlining the importance of coordination and synchronization of polio response efforts.

Nearly 12 million children were vaccinated last year through mass immunization campaigns to halt the spread of the virus, the WHO added.

Source: Xinhuanet

The head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, says he was at a Yemeni airport when it was hit by Israeli air strikes

“One of our plane’s crew members was injured. At least two people were reported killed at the airport,” he says

Israel says its air strikes hit the international airport in the capital Sanaa, two power stations, plus ports.

Source: BBC

Cameroon’s healthcare system faces a shortage of 68,000 personnel, Public Health Minister Manaouda Malachie recently told lawmakers. This shortage, the minister said, prevents the country from meeting World Health Organization (WHO) standards.

The government official made this revelation before members of the Finance Committee of the National Assembly while defending the Public Health Ministry’s budget for the 2025 fiscal year.

Pressed by lawmakers to explain the shortage of medical staff in healthcare facilities, the minister emphasized the “need to recruit healthcare personnel in light of the scarcity of doctors and that, in accordance with the workforce management plan, recruitment is carried out with consideration of its financial sustainability for the state,” as noted in the committee’s report.

He nonetheless reassured that “efforts are being made to ensure that every locality has healthcare personnel.” Moreover, Manaouda Malachie informed the deputies that “given the sensitivity of the public health sector, a massive healthcare personnel recruitment project is underway. This will eventually significantly reduce the deficit.” However, similar promises had been made in the past.

Four years ago, in December 2021, at the same hearing, Manaouda Malachie acknowledged a deficit of 55,000 healthcare workers. He requested a budget line for the following year to “enhance the availability of quality human resources in healthcare facilities, develop a new human resources development plan, and engage in advocacy and social dialogue to improve working conditions for healthcare personnel.” Yet, by the minister’s own admission, with the current deficit of 68,000 personnel, the gap has widened by 13,000 since 2021.

According to the Cameroon Employers’ Association, Cameroonian doctors, along with teachers, are among the professional categories most likely to emigrate to Canada. An estimated 6,000 of them left the country between April and August 2024.

Source: Sbbc

More than two decades ago, Professor Robinson Mbu then President of the Manyu Elements Cultural Association in Yaoundé told this news reporter that he believed in miracles.

Mbu a very brilliant Southern Cameroons student with more than twenty A level points was refused a place in the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Yaoundé by the Francophone dominated regime.

By some strange happenstance, he travelled to neighboring Cross River State and deceived the government there that he was a citizen of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. And so they allowed him to study medicine in the Federal Republic of Nigeria without paying a penny.

It was indeed a “miracle” for Robinson Mbu who graduated in Nigeria, returned home and became a chartered member of the ruling CPDM crime syndicate. His areas of specialization include Obstetrics and Gynecology, Operative laparoscopy in obstetrics and gynecology and Public health.

Robinson Mbu Enow (to use his three names) has been everything in Cameroon’s ministry of health including Director of Family Health. Late today, President Biya did what he does best by firing Professor Robinson Mbu.

Ever since the news came out on state radio and television CRTV, Robinson Mbu has been crying and jumping around at his Yaounde’s residence like a neck less chicken.

Manyu citizens in Yaoundé have been trooping to his home to console the CPDM health criminal and he has been talking ohne ende- boasting how even Biya cannot take away his professorship and that one of his buildings in Buea can keep him going forever.

It’s been clear from the very beginning of his career in Yaoundé that many CPDM barons such Minister Ahmadou Mustapha; the late Dr Ayuk Takem Jacob and even General Elokobi Daniel Njock didn’t trust this physician. That image of a trustworthy medical doctor was eroded long ago over a D and C incident which was never reported.

Today, a frustrated Mbu is crying, seemingly after losing his post in the Ministry of Health.

Stop crying please, Professor!! That is the modus operandi of the CPDM crime syndicate.

By Soter Tarh Agbaw-Ebai with files from Eyong Tabot Enow in Yaoundé

The National AIDS Control Committee (NACC) shared updated data on Cameroon’s HIV/AIDS epidemic during a recent meeting in Yaoundé. Nearly 400,000 people in Cameroon are living with HIV, representing a 2.7% prevalence rate. Worryingly, children under 14 are the most affected group.

The NACC emphasized that these figures will soon be updated as the government prepares to release findings from the second Cameroon Population-based HIV Impact Assessment (Camphia II). This study, led by the Ministry of Public Health (Minsante), aims to evaluate the epidemic’s impact and refine the country’s response.

The first Camphia study was conducted in 2017. According to a Minsante document, the second phase will provide critical data on HIV incidence, resistance, and prevalence. These insights will help adjust strategies and measure the progress made in combating the epidemic.

While awaiting the results, the NACC continues to stress the importance of testing, noting that many Cameroonians remain unaware of their HIV status. Preteens are a key focus of NACC efforts. “We are implementing what we call community-based identification of children living with HIV who are unaware of their status. This initiative has allowed us to test nearly 1,000 children who are HIV-positive and attending our schools without knowing their condition,” said NACC Secretary-General Joseph Fokam in a statement to CRTV.

This week, Minsante launched a month-long HIV testing campaign, with preadolescents as the primary target. The initiative aims to improve early detection and connect those diagnosed with the necessary treatment and support systems.

Source: Sbbc