Cameroon Echoes {Echos Camerounais}

Maladies rares : Le Cameroun au défi de la prise en charge

Les derniers dépistages révèlent que la drépanocytose, le syndrome de l’X-fragile et la myopathie de Duchène figurent au premier rang.

L’hôpital général de Yaoundé a abrité du 22 au 26 février dernier, une série de dépistages des maladies rares. Ces dépistages faits par des praticiens français que l’on se rende compte que , 115 personnes sur consultées au service de pédiatrie de l’Hôpital général de Yaoundé grâce l’Association de lutte contre les maladies rares et le handicap en Afrique (Almoha), que trois affections sévissent principalement au Cameroun: La drépanocytose, le syndrome de l’X-fragile et la myopathie.

Cimencam : Des employés victimes d’intoxication alimentaire

C’était mardi dernier, après la consommation d’aliments douteux à la cantine de l’entreprise. La responsable de la communication à Cimencam dément l’information. 

Enceinte de l’usine des Cimenteries du Cameroun (Cimencam) à Bonabéri, vendredi dernier aux alentours de 10h. Les employés, arborant tous des casques de protection et tuniques de travail, vont et viennent. L’ambiance est normale, la sécurité est comme souvent, rigoureuse. La cantine, elle, est fermée. Pourtant, un employé abordé nous confirme effectivement la nouvelle que tout le monde semble banaliser ici. Mardi dernier, plusieurs employés ont été admis aux soins. A l’infirmerie, la plupart se plaignent de diarrhées.

Paludisme : Un moustique génétiquement modifié pour vaincre la maladie

Selon l’Institut de recherches médicales, les résultats obtenus permettront l’anéantissement de l’anophèle dans la prochaine décennie.

Les spécialistes sont formels : le paludisme constitue la première cause de décès en Afrique. Au Cameroun, 35 à 40% de décès dans les hôpitaux liés à cette maladie. Si la moustiquaire imprégnée reste une référence en matière de protection contre la piqûre de moustiques selon les professionnels, cette mesure reste limitée. Bien qu’une équipe de chercheurs britanniques aient annoncé l’année dernière, la mise au point d’un vaccin d’ici 2010-2011, l’on reste sceptique d’autant plus que de telles annonces avaient été faites dans ce sens par le passé. Mais pour l’Institut de recherches médicales et d’études des plantes médicinales (Impm), la solution pourrait venir d’un…moustique !

Minister Bakang Mbock Prepares Home For Street Children

 The Minister of Social Affairs was in Buea to prepare ground for the arrival of some 120 street children from Yaounde and Douala. 

As a Government policy ushered in 2008, the Ministry of Social Affairs is currently tackling the issue of street children. The issue has kept the Social Affairs Minister, Catherine Bakang Mbock, on her heels as she was in Buea 22 February to ascertain that the Buea based Borstal Institute could play host to some 120 of the 462 homeless children recuperated from Yaounde and Douala streets. 

Scientists in South Africa are suggesting a radical shift in the fight against HIV/Aids

   

Circumcision Ring Can Cut AIDS Risk In Africa

Ring-Shape Device Makes Procedure Less Painful

AP Photo/Khaty Pownall

MARIA CHENG,

The most powerful force against AIDS in Africa may be circumcision, a procedure that's easily done in the developed world. But it's a challenge on a continent where there are too few medical workers and a reluctance by men for cultural reasons and fear of pain.

Now there may be a new weapon in the arsenal -- a ring-shaped device that is mostly painless and requires less time for healthworkers.

The Chinese-developed device, the ShangRing, has been tested in a small study in Kenya and a larger test is set for later this year. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will invest about $4 million into studying the device.

Savouring Sachet Water But…

 

The sale of sachet water is en vogue but the source and purity of the water is questionable. 

As dry taps continue to persist in the town of Yaounde, inhabitants are seeking different ways to solve the problem of potable water shortage. One of such ways is the production and sale of water in small packages. Shop owners as well as hawkers are making brisk business through the sale of sachet water along streets and other main junctions in Yaounde. Without any knowledge of the source of water in sachets, many keep savouring its taste saying one cannot resist a sachet of cold water during a hot afternoon. 

Cancer: Prevention First!

Inhabitants of Yaounde have been given a one-week opportunity to know whether or not they have been affected or are likely to be attacked by one of the killer diseases; cancer. The free cancer screening programme and other activities to run from 15th through the 19th of February, 2010 is holding under the theme, “the Fight against Cancer in Cameroon Today.” Placed under the patronage of the First Lady, Chantal Biya and organised by the National Committee for the Fight against Cancer in partnership with the African Synergy against AIDS as well as the French piloted group, Sanofi Aventis, the exercise is expected to be a crowd puller considering the growing cases of cancer in the country. 

Strange mosquitoes invade Uganda

Authorities in Uganda are studying what they term as strange mosquitoes that have invaded a district in the western region. The mosquitoes which have invaded Kabarole district are slightly bigger than the usual ones; feed day and night and cause skin rash on face and upper limbs of the people they bite.

Those they bite develop symptoms similar to those of chicken pox. 

Now, Dr Joa Oketch, the Kabarole District Health Officer says they have taken blood samples from 27 people who were bitten by the strange mosquitoes and tested positive to malaria.

He identifies the affected areas as Mugoma zone 1 and 2, Buteebe parish in Karambi Sub County, Katojo prison and Kitere in Kibimba Ward, West Division in Fort Portal municipality.

Africa malaria drugs ‘poor quality’

1. Africans suffering from malaria may be receiving sub-standard treatment; this is according to a study released by US based experts. The Pharmacopeia group researchers revealed that between 26% and 44% of anti-malaria drugs in Madagascar, Senegal and Uganda were of poor quality.

   

   Low-quality drugs were being used in both public and private health practice.
   
   90% of those lost their life for malaria in the world happened in Africa, according to the report. 
   
   The experts subjected 200 samples of anti-malaria drugs to quality-control testing in a US laboratory, BBC reported.
   
   44% of the drugs from Senegal failed the testing, followed by 30% from Madagascar and 26% from Uganda, researchers said.
   
   They also studied drugs from seven other countries - Cameroon, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria and Tanzania, but have not yet released results from that data.
   
   Half of the world's population is at risk of malaria, and an estimated 243 million cases led to estimated 863 000 deaths in 2008, WHO said.