HSC Feruary 2013 - Cameroon Baptist Convention (CBC) Health ...

February 2012
Volume 3, No. 44
Stop Press!!!
Read the CBCHS
Chronicle and
share the
information with
others.
Bible Verse of
the Month
“Not that I have already
obtained all this, or
have already been made
perfect, but I press on to
take hold of that for
which Christ Jesus took
hold of me”. Philippians
3:12 (NIV)
CBCHS Press Division
P.O BOX 01 Bamenda
NW Region, Cameroon
Email:
pressdivision@cbchealthservices.org
Website: www.cbchealthservices.org
Publisher/Executive Editor
Prof. Tih Pius Muffih
(Director of Health Services)
Tel +237 779 36495
Head of Department
Maku Vivian
Tel: +237 75230707
Editor-in-Chief
Bonkung Handerson
Design/Circulation
Namondo Ewane
Defeu Colince
Tah Peter
Correspondents
We have correspondents in all
CBCHB institutions.
Any correspondence by post or
email should be addressed to the
CBCHS Press Division
CAMEROON BAPTIST CONVENTION HEALTH SERVICES
A monthly publication of the CBC Health Services Press Division
Email: pressdivision@cbchealthservices.org
Website: www.cbchealthservices.org
CBCHS embraces Two New Projects - Test and Treat (Option B+),
Long Active Reversible Contraception (LARC)
he Cameron Baptist
Convention Health
Services (CBCHS)
Thas continued to position
herself as leader in AIDS care
and prevention in Cameroon.
The CBCHS has once again
taken another giant step ahead
of other healthcare providers
in the country as she is given
the mandate to pilot the Test
a n d Tr e a t P r o j e c t , a
recommendation by the WHO
for PMTCT, otherwise called,
Option B+. So far, only
Malawi in 2011 adopted the
Option B+ for placing
pregnant clients on ART
immediately as they are tested HIV
positive. In spite of the challenges
faced in implementing Option B+,
the Malawian authorities feel
satisfied that their child bearing
population is protected since
treatment in Option B+ is for life.
Cameroon opted for Option A.
Other resource limited
Prof. Tih urging participants (doctors)
to embrace the new projects
countries including Cameroon put an
eagle's eye on the Malawi example.
Holding hands recently in Yaounde with
the American Ambassador to Cameroon,
the Minister of Public Health, Andre
Mama Fouda pronounced happily that
Cameroon is now for Option B+ in the
prevention of mother to child
transmission of HIV. The Minister said
CBC Leaders Schooled At
Strategic Planning Seminar
Some leaders of the Cameroon
Baptist Convention (CBC) have
been educated on issues of strategic
planning at a seminar organized by
the CBC General Secretary, Rev.
G o d w i l l
Ncham. The
t w o d a y
s t r a t e g i c
p l a n n i n g
seminar held
f r o m
February 15-
16, 2013 at
the Basement
o f t h e
Director of
CBC Leaders taking
lessons on Management
Health Service's residence at the
CBC Headquarters in Nkwen,
Bamenda. The seminar that brought
together top leaders of some key
departments and institutions of the
CBC was facilitated by the CBC
Director of Health Services (DHS),
Prof. Tih Pius Muffih.
Speaking at the opening
of the seminar, the CBC General
Secretary, Rev. Godwill Ncham
who also doubled as a participant
said the CBC has always come up
with good goals which are not
realized. He explained that the
reason for this
u n d e s i r a b l e
s i t u a t i o n i s
b e c a u s e
sometimes the
various leaders
do not have
action plans to
h e l p i n t h e
implementation
of the goals,
monitor and
assess the progress being made.
“We thought that if we really want to
be more intentional and do what
God has called us to do, it is
important that we organise a
seminar like this so that we can
school ourselves on strategic
planning,” the CBC GS mentioned.
He therefore called on the over 40
participants to maximize the
Cont’d on pg 2
Option B+ is the only way
forward if the country must
intentionally reach the
global goal of “Getting to
Zero” new infections in
children. Based on the
positive report card of the
CBCHS in the area of HIV
and AIDS in Cameroon and
b e y o n d , t h e f u n d e r
(PEPFAR) has chosen the
CBCHS to pilot the Option
B+ for PMTCT in the NW
and SW regions after which
recommendations would be
forwarded to the Minister of
Public Health for possible
scale up and replication in other regions of
the country. The pilot phase of the
programme will run in 11 Sites in the
Bamenda Health District for the NW and 8
Sites in the Kumba Health District for the
SW.
From this background, a 2-day
Training of Trainers (TOT) workshop held
in the hall at the basement of the DHS
residence in Bamenda from February 18-
19, 2013. The workshop brought together
over 15 physicians from both the CBCHS
and the government who will supervise the
pilot phase of Option B+ in the various Sites
within the selected Districts of Bamenda
and Kumba. The physicians took turns to
Cont’d on pg 2
If you feel motivated to support
any of our programmes in
Cameroon, please send your tax
deductible gift to:
Cameroon Health and Education Fund
(CHEF)
PO Box 330
Rapid City, SD57709
If you have any questions, contact:
CHEF President,
Dr. Thomas Welty,
Emails: thomaswelty@gmail.com
OR ediewelty@gmail.com
Tel: 001 208-989-0340

The Health Board Chronicle
Journalists in the Northwest Region have been
trained at a one day workshop to effectively
participate in encouraging women to attend
antenatal clinic (ANC) so as to reduce maternal
mortality and curb the transmission of HIV from
mother-to-child.
The workshop
attended by over
65 journalists
from both the
print and audiovisual
media was
organised by the
H I V F r e e
Northwest and
S o u t h w e s t
CDC/PEPFAR
programme of
the Cameroon
B a p t i s t
C o n v e n t i o n
Health Services
( C B C H S ) o n
March 1, 2013 in Bamenda .
While opening the workshop, the CBC
Director of Health Services, Prof. Tih Pius Muffih
said maternal mortality rates in Cameroon stands at
790 deaths per hundred thousand (100,000) live
th
births; the 9 highest in the world. He regretted that
this high mortality rate is recorded at a time when the
international community and the Cameroon
government in particular are poised through the
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) on
bringing maternal mortality to its barest minimum.
He reiterated the place of the mass media in helping
CBCHS embraces Two New Projects .. from pg1
present close to 20 lessons which will be used to train
service providers notably selected state registered
nurses (SRN) who will write and pass an exam set for
this purpose. A 4-man sub scientific committee was
formed to harmonize the workshop lessons into a
manual that will be used as the Standard Operating
Procedure (SOP) for Option B+. The subcommittee
members include: Dr. Oukouomi William from
MBH, Dr. Eduoard
Katayi from BHM, Dr.
Akam Wilfred who is
the Focal Point for the
SW Region and Dr.
A t a n g a H e n r y ,
Coordinator of SW
Regional Technical
Group
(RTG).
Speaking at
the workshop, the CBC
Director of Health
Services (DHS), Prof.
Tih Pius Muffih lauded
the Cameroon Minister
of Public Health for opting
for Option B+. The Public Health expert said WHO
recommended Option B+ for resource limited
countries due to the success story of Malawi. Prof.
Tih challenged the doctors to diligently pilot the
Option B+ in the NW and SW and give the Minister
an assurance to further use them as the task force to
scale up the project to other regions of the country.
Shedding light on the Option B+, the DHS
said the trainers (doctors) will train competent nurses
for task shifting. He explained that such training will
not be limited to theory, but it will also entail
practical treatment of patients through role play.
Nurses who perform well will be placed briefly at
various Treatment Centres for practical experience
in the campaign, stating that the soaring rates are
partly triggered by misinformation even by
journalists.
Prof. Tih stressed that the target of
journalists as veritable stakeholders in the fight
against mother-tochild
transmission of
H I V s h o u l d b e
greater uptake in
A N C a n d
c o n s e q u e n t
r e d u c t i o n o f
maternal mortality
through effective
communication. He
n o t e d t h a t t h e
reasons why most
women die during
childbirth include
b l e e d i n g , m a l -
presentation of the
baby in the womb
amongst others. The
level-headed Prof. Tih maintained that attending
antenatal clinic (ANC) as early as three months of
pregnancy and at least three times before delivery
will no doubt help in the diagnosing and correction of
any abnormalities. He therefore challenged media
men to play a pivotal role in informing and
sensitising Cameroonians on the importance of early
ANC attendance.
Journalists were updated on the progress and
challenges of the HIV Free Northwest and Southwest
programme which has as sub-grantees Clinton
Health Access Initiative (CHAI) and Elizabeth
under the supervision of the doctors. After the one
month placement, the nurses will return to their
Centres to test and initiate pregnant women on
treatment. The DHS charged the RTG Coordinators
for the NW and SW and the Programme Managers of
the HIV Free NW and SW to select the nurses to be
trained. Prof. Tih urged the doctors to do
proper supervision, prepare algorithms that would be
r e v i e w e d b y o t h e r
partners such as CDC,
CHAI, etc before it is
presented to the Ministry
of Public Health. The
DHS announced to the
relief of the doctors that an
American Nutritionist has
been hired for the HIV-
F r e e N W a n d S W
Programme Option B+
programme. Prof. Tih
reiterated that Option B+
is not being piloted for its
Page 2
efficacy but for its logical
feasibility in Cameroon. It
should be noted that
the Programme Manager is Mrs. Lem Edith and Mr.
Jacque Chirac Awa is the M&E Officer.
In spite of their busy schedules, the NW
Regional Delegate of Public Health, Dr. Ndiforchu
Victor Afanyi, the Coordinator of RTG NW, Dr. Arrey
Charles and the Coordinator of the RTG SW, Dr.
Atanga Henry took active parts in the two-day TOT
workshop. The government officials took turns to hail
the CBCHS for its leadership role in AIDS care and
prevention in Cameroon. They challenged everyone
not to relent but to come on board and make Option
B+ a reality in Cameroon.
Key elements of Option B+ (Test and Treat)
Volume 3, No. 44
Northwest Journalists to Mobilise Communities for ANC Uptake
Journalists brainstorming & fine-tuning ANC messages
NW Delegate of Health, Dr. Ndiforchu
appreciating the CBCHS initiatives
Glaser Paediatric AIDS Foundation (EGPAF). The
HIV Free Northwest programme manager, Ms. Kuni
Esther, while giving the updates regretted the
existence of many unauthorised clinics in some
communities with quark practitioners. She said many
of these lack standard equipment and maternal deaths
recorded in their facilities are never reported.
She said that they are working with the
district medical officers for subsequent training with
some health facilities that have their authorisation in
process. Ms. Kuni revealed that the success
registered in the two regions will propel PEPFAR to
scale up services in the other eight regions of
Cameroon. The participants were also drilled on the
four prongs of PMTCT which is a WHO
comprehensive approach to PMTCT.
Participants at the workshop worked in
groups to edit previous sensitisation messages which
they designed in the first workshop and fine-turned
better strategies to pass across these messages to their
communities. This was accompanied by role plays
and a debate on the topic “Men should accompany
their partners to ANC”, aimed at encouraging men to
accompany their partners to antenatal clinic to ensure
the wholistic health of their families. The journalists
were urged to do programmes that will encourage
women to attend ANC at least in the first 14 weeks or
3 months of pregnancy.
The journalists were also spurred
spiritually in a devotional thought from Nehemiah
1:1-3 titled the marks of a caring servant. Ps Nkuoh
Godlove, Supervisor of the HIV Free NW project
said Nehemiah cared about the welfare of his people.
He knew he was in the community for a divine
purpose. He told the press men and women to know
they are in the different media outfits for a purpose.
include: robust adherence counseling, clinically
safe, programmatic advantages, simple message –
ART for all, once started it is for life, protection of
MTCT in future pregnancies, protection of negative
partners in serodiscordant relationships and
avoiding stopping and starting treatment.
In addition to the Option B+, the CBCHS
will receive funding to implement Long Lasting
Reversible Contraception (LARC) in the NW and
SW Regions. Like the Option B+, this will be
piloted in two Districts.
CBC Leaders Schooled
..from pg1
opportunity granted by the seminar and move the
CBC to higher heights in the years ahead. He
equally encouraged them not to hold the knowledge
acquired given that the kind of planning and
management methods taught at the seminar will no
doubt ease evaluation.
In his opening words, the facilitator of the
seminar, Prof. Tih Pius called on all the leaders to
learn to always support good ideas that will build
the Convention irrespective of whoever initiates
them. He encouraged team spirit amongst CBC
leaders while stressing on the importance of
continuity in all departments and institutions of the
Convention. Prof. Tih Pius, whose experience on
strategic planning and leadership has attracted both
national and international attention, told
participants that as strategists, they must first learn
to isolate the important things from the less
important ones. “If this is not done, we can become
very efficient but not effective,” he maintained.
In a devotional thought titled “Get
SMART with God through strategic planning and
don't forget your SWOT,” with inspiration from
Cont’d on pg 3

The Health Board Chronicle
CBM Officials Commend SEEPD for Zeal in Fostering Inclusion
Visiting officials from the Christofel Blinden
Mission (CBM) have commended the zeal with
which the staff of the Socio Economic Empowerment
of People with Disabilities (SEEPD) programme are
working to foster the inclusion of people with
disabilities (PWDs) into mainstream of society. This
commendation was made during a recent visit to the
SEEPD programme by a 4-man team from CBM
from January 4-8, 2013. The CBM officials included:
Simon Duffy, Programme Officer from CBM
Australia, Stephanie Akweyu, Programme Officer
from the CBM Regional Office in Kenya, Peter Mue,
CBM Regional Programme Advisor and Country
Coordinator Cameroon and Damian Tem,
Monitoring and Evaluation Officer from CBM
Cameroon.
According to SEEPD Communication
Officer, Ashiyo Tina, the CBM Officials came to
discuss the SEEPD Programme achievements and
challenges in 2012, review and discuss the financial
management of the programme, review the state of
assets of some projects, discuss progress with
implementing various ANCP requirements, and to
discuss the possibilities of a sustainability workshop.
In Bamenda, the Director of the CBC Health Services
CBC Leaders Schooled
..from pg2
Nehemiah 2: 1-20, the Director of the Community
Counseling Clinic and Centre for Clinical Pastoral
Education and Social Services of the CBCHS, Rev.
Dr. Ndongnde Godlove called on the participants to
emulate the example of Nehemiah. He said
Nehemiah in his drive to rebuild the walls of
Jerusalem set specific, measurable, achievable,
relevant and time bound objectives. He exhorted the
participants to always evaluate the Strengths,
Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats of their
organizations as a check on SMART.
For two days running, the CBC Director of
Health Services (DHS), Prof. Tih Pius kept the
participants abreast with the various components of a
strategic plan notably vision statement, mission
statement, goals, objectives, action plan,
effectiveness and efficiency. Using a very practical
approach, Prof. Tih Pius led participants on how to
come up with appropriate mission statements, vision
statements, long and short term goals and action
plans for 2013, which put together, resulted in a
succinct strategic document for each leader. The
leaders were expected to fully develop these very
important documents as they go back to their various
stations.
The CBC DHS also stressed on the use of
SWOT analysis and Situational analysis in
developing a standard strategic plan. He regretted
that African countries including Cameroon continue
to lag behind due to inadequate or lack of proper
strategic planning in most sectors. He therefore
challenged the CBC leaders and other organizations
to take strategic planning seriously; not
underestimating its importance. By and large, Prof.
Tih Pius reiterated that if participants carefully apply
the knowledge acquired they will move the CBC
from where it is to where they desire it to be. “Our
problem is not the lack of money. It is the absence of
strategic planning, “ he concluded.
T h e p a r t i c i p a n t s t h r o u g h t h e i r
representative, the President of the Cameroon Baptist
Seminary, Kumba, Rev. Lobe Bernard thanked the
CBC GS for organizing the seminar and the
facilitator, Prof. Tih Pius for the mastery of the
subject matter and for the wealth of knowledge given
them. They promised to disseminate the knowledge
in their respective areas for positive implementation
and continuity.
received the CBM officials before they went on to
meet with the SEEPD Programme Coordination
team. In his words of welcome, the SEEPD
Programme Manager, Mr. Benuh Ezekiel told the
CBM Officials that their frequent visits and review of
the programme activities is a motivation and
encouragement to the Programme staff. The SEEPD
Coordination team updated the august visitors on the
programme progress such as the SEEPD Monitoring
and Evaluation system, Communication and
advocacy initiatives. The SEEPD Programme
Manager then accompanied the CBM officials in
their visits to Banso and Mbingo Baptist Hospitals.
In his welcome address, the Senior
Administrator BBH, Mr. Ngam Joseph thanked the
officials for coming and
said he was grateful to
CBM for partnering with
the CBC Health Services
in providing health care to
those who need it. He said
the CBC Health Services
is where it is today thanks
to partners like them who
have been providing
financial and technical
support. They later visited
the Low Vision Centre
where they were told that
the vision of 25 pupils and
students had significantly
improved, thanks to low
vision devices. It was also revealed that 7 other
children with visual impairments have been
withdrawn from the Integrated School for the Blind
(ISFB) Kumbo and integrated into mainstream
schools where they are now learning using the normal
print and are performing well in their studies. A total
of 35 pupils have benefited from low vision devices
in the communities.
In Mbingo, the CBM officials held a
meeting with all the CBC Health Services
Community Based Rehabilitation Field workers and
listened to success stories of the improvement of the
quality of life of persons with disabilities, thanks to
their intervention in the different divisions and the
challenges faced in the field. While the CBM team
appreciated the field workers for their zeal and hard
work, they encouraged them to intensify advocacy
for communities to take greater responsibility
towards persons with disabilities.
The visit of the CBM officials was also
characterized by discussions with some two of the
nine Associations of persons with disabilities
implementing some of the social component
activities. During discussions with the Keafon
Association of Persons with Disabilities, they were
told that the negative perceptions of community
members concerning persons with disabilities have
changed tremendously, thanks to the fact that the
SEEPD Programme entrusted the organization of
two workshops on political participation by persons
with disabilities and one for religious leaders on
inclusive practices in Churches to Keafon. The
Keafon members testified that because people have
actually seen them planning and executing activities
that bring together people from all walks of life, the
result has been the wide acceptance and inclusion of
persons with disabilities.
In Bamenda, the CBM officials also
listened to the members of the Special Needs
Entrepreneurs Group (SNEG) share their
experiences. Some of the experiences of this group
included the outcome of organizing a singles'
seminar for persons with disabilities to create
awareness on the psychosocial requirements for
Page 3
Volume 3, No. 44
marriage and advocating for mainstream sports and
recreational activities to be disability inclusive. They
testified that these efforts resulted in some of them
getting engagements and the inclusion of persons
with disabilities in the 2013 Youth week sporting
activities.
The CBM team also visited the Mayor of
Jakiri who has been supporting the education of some
12 children with disabilities from his municipality at
the Integrated School for the Deaf in Mbingo. The
CBM officials appreciated Mayor Shang Lawrence
and sought to know his motivation for promoting the
education of children with disabilities in his
municipality. The Mayor said he was so excited to
have the team in his office and revealed that he was
convinced by the
BBH CBR Field
Supervisor who
opened him up to the
world of the children
and this actually
p u s h e d h i m t o
realize the need and
i m p o r t a n c e o f
a s s i s t i n g t h e
education of the
needy ones.
The CBM
team was part of the
SEEPD Programme
s t a k e h o l d e r s
committee meeting
on February 6, 2012 during which they listened to
presentations on the 2012 activity reports,
discussions on other matters concerning the
Programme and challenges faced in the
implementation of activities. The activity report
stated that close to 80% activities of the medical and
rehabilitation, education, livelihood, social and
research components planned for 2012 had been
implemented as some targets were met, others not
and others exceeded.
At the end of the visit, the CBM Country
Director and Regional Advisor, Mr. Mue Peter Ngha
said they saw a lot of anxiety in the communities and
were very impressed with the fact that community
members are now supporting persons with
disabilities to be part of their actions. He said they
were encouraged by the smiles on the faces of the
persons with disabilities brought about as a result of
the SEEPD Programme's interventions. Mr. Mue
noted that his team was motivated by the passion
shown by all the stakeholders in fostering the
inclusion and empowerment of persons with
disabilities. He encouraged the SEEPD Programme
implementing partners to work hard to maintain the
steam they have towards meeting the programme's
goal, which is improving the quality of life of persons
with disabilities.
It should be noted that CBM, which stands
for Christian Blind Mission is partnering with the
Australian Development Agency (AusAID) to fund
the SEEPD Programme. It is thanks to the
programme that the eye, physiotherapy and Ear, Nose
and Throat (ENT) departments outreach screenings
have intensified. The programme also contributed
part of the funds used in constructing the orthopaedic
theatre in Mbingo Baptist Hospital and the new Eye
Complex in Banso Baptist Hospital. The programme
has contributed to the acquisition of consumables and
devices for the eye and physiotherapy departments,
the setting up of the ENT department of the CBC
Health Services, the training of some ENT and
Orthopaedic nurses and assistants, the intensification
of CBR activities and an increase in the number of
and training of CBR Community Volunteers amongst
many other achievements.
CBM Officials listening to a group report

The Health Board Chronicle
Babies of the Month:
Birth Day Anniversaries at CBCHS Central Administration
Birth celebrations have become a fashionable
occurrence among staff members at the CBCHS
Central Administration. This reporter recalls that
this phenomenon
took its roots some
years back when
one of the first
batches of the
B r e a d f o r t h e
World volunteers
commonly called
German Girls or
Bamenda Girls
t o o k t u r n s t o
c o m m e m o r a t e
their birth days.
T h e y s h a r e d
sweets and candies
with the staff who
in turn sang the
Happy Birthday
Song to the girls, much to their amusement. This
opened a new page at the CBCHS Central
Administration, Babies of the Month. Since then,
concerned staff members, especially the females
sparingly took turns to announce their birth days
although a majority of them lacked the courage to
also announce how old they are as required by the
Birthday Song. But for a few who told us how old
they were, the rest simply said they were one more
year older. But, what is wrong in telling people how
old we are? Many reasons abound; from culture to
under achievement, which most often is not
commensurate to our ages due to both internal and
external forces.
The month of February 2013 witnessed
the highest number of birthday announcements at
the CBCHS Central Administration. An informal
survey carried out by this reporter indicates that a
handful of staff at the CBCHS Central
Administration were born in the month of February.
Three of them cared to celebrate and thank God for
giving them one more year. They included: Miss
Namondo Ewane of the Press Division, Mr.
Nyuonguo Kenneth of the Procurement Department
Chaplain Ndongnde Eunice,
cutting her birthday cake
and Mrs. Ndongnde Eunice, chaplain at the CBCHS
Central Administration. The birth day spirit is now
very much alive, and so, they also shared sweets,
biscuits, cakes and drinks
in exchange for a Happy
Birthday Song from their
merry colleagues and
above all, a thanksgiving
prayer to God.
Speaking at the birth
day of Mrs. Ndongnde
E u n i c e d u r i n g t h e
morning devotions on
February 18, 2013, the
C B C H S C h i e f o f
Administration and
Finance (CAF), Mr.
Warri Denis said it is no
Page 4
surprise that her birth day
concerns everyone at the
C B C H S C e n t r a l
Administration . As chaplain at the Central
Administration, the CAF acknowledged that Mrs.
Ndongnde has affected the lives of staff, reason why
she was nominated and honoured as the Staff of the
Year for 2012.
For his part, the Director of Health
Services, Prof. Tih Pius Muffih commended the spirit
of togetherness and like the CAF, wished that this
spirit should trickle down to other institutions and
departments of the CBCHS as a means of fostering
social cohesion and camaraderie amongst staff.
Rev. Dr. Ndongnde Godlove was very
much present to support his wife at the birth day party.
Beaming with joy, he thanked the staff of the CBCHS
Central Administration on the occasion. Prayers were
offered to close the talking before refreshment.
Editor’s Comment: “Babies of the
Month” is a new column designed for
merry making with our readers.
Announce your birth anniversary on this
column free of charge!!!
CBCHS Sixth Anesthetic Conference Holds in Mbingo
Some 26 anesthetists drawn from the various
CBCHS institutions have met at their annual
conference in Mbingo Baptist Hospital (MBH) on
February 2, 2013. The one day conclave is always
an opportunity for all anesthetists working with the
CBCHS to review their
practices, correct errors and
plan for quality improvement
in the various aspects of their
profession.
Speaking at the
meeting that lasted over eight
hours, the CBCHS Anesthetic
Supervisor, Mr. Mbah John
said all missionary surgeons
and PAACS residents are
marveled at the work the
CBCHS trained anesthetists
are doing. Key during the meeting was the
presentation of cases by some individuals and
hospital representatives for review. Following the
case presentations, participants brainstormed on
how to improve on patient care by especially
correcting the errors that were identified in the
various cases that were presented.
Our Mbingo based correspondent,
Lukong Bernard Shafe notes that one of the
outcomes of the meeting was a resolution by the
attendees to remain committed in the discharge of
their duties notably in relieving pain, inducing sleep
and producing relaxation for surgery as in the trial of
anesthesia. What also came under discussion was a
modicum of challenges facing the practice including
the lack of drugs,
e q u i p m e n t a n d
i n a d e q u a t e
motivation amongst
o t h e r s . T h e
anesthetists pledged
to channel these
challenges to the
administration for
solutions.
I n h i s
speech, the MBH
Assistant Supervisor
f o r N u r s i n g
Services, Mr. Chongsi Timothy stated that “the peak
of nursing care will never be reached, for the higher
you go, the more you need to know.” Dr. Manning
Christine equally sent words of encouragement by
email to all the anesthetists. Speaking at the close of
the meeting, Dr. Keith Streatfield remarked that the
CBCHS anesthetists meet world standards and are
Conference in Session
Volume 3, No. 44
CBCHS Quality
Assurance Supervisor
Speaks Out
The CBCHS Quality Assurance Supervisor, Mr.
Fombe Justin is always in the field visiting CBCHS
hospitals and health centres to ensure that quality and
standard healthcare is provided to clients. He also
wears other caps such as Supervisor of the Client
Orientated Provider Efficient (COPE) services and
Supervisor of Maternal and Child health. During one
of his visits to Bamenda, CBCHS Press caught up
with Mr. Fombe to shed light on current issues in
these programmes.
He said he came to Bamenda to carry out
COPE training in Nkwen Baptist Health Centre to
improve on services especially at the ANC and
Treatment Centre. Prior to the training, he finished
work on the hospital performance measurement last
week with Madam Monita and her team of MPH
students from the University of Boston, USA. Mr.
Fombe disclosed that Monita will finalize work on the
hospital performance measurement manual and send
a copy to the CBCHS which will be used to begin
implementation and training in September 2013.
As QA Supervisor of the CBCHS, Mr.
Fombe Justin is excited with the exercise as it will
move QA practices of the Board another step forward.
He said hospital performance measurement enables
us to look at any aspect of healthcare services and
measure scientifically in percentages. According to
him, hospital performance measurement, hitherto,
has been reserved for countries of the West, but
thanks to the transfer of concepts, the CBCHS will be
the first to apply this tool in our setting.
In line with the DHS' end of Year address of
2012 launching prizes for the cleanest institutions,
most active QA committees, best IP practicing staff
and the best nursing care department, the QA
Supervisor said he has been going round stimulating
staff and institutions to live up to the challenge of
winning these prizes. He is doing this through COPE
and IP exercises and seminars such as the one at
NBHC at the time of this report. Mr. Fombe noted
with joy that the staff everywhere are not only
anxious to win the DHS prizes, but also to do IP as
routine for quality healthcare provision.
In the area of maternal health, the
supervisor, Mr. Fombe remarked that he looks
forward to seeing that all maternity staff are trained in
Advanced Life Support in Obstetrics (ALSO). He
announced that the trainings this year will begin in
BBH from April 2, 2013. The same training will move
to MBH and later to Mboppi Baptist Hospital Douala.
He said the maternal child health committee will be
meeting three times this year in line with the CBCHS
strategic plan to lay down the path for service
improvement. The committee will among other
things, examine the availability and use of guidelines.
qualified to attend international conferences. He said
just like Christ, anesthetists have as mission to save
lives.
Earlier in a devotional thought drawn from
Philippians 2:1-8, Rev. Mbieng Elias exhorted the
CBCHS anesthetists to exercise love, humility,
obedience and compassion. It would be recalled that
the MBH anesthesia training programme that started
in 2001 has graduated five badges of students.
Another batch of 13 students is currently in training; 8
in year two and 5 in the first year. Reports say given
the high need for anesthetists, the CBCHS is patiently
waiting for the time these ones will graduate.

The Health Board Chronicle
EID Training of Trainers Workshop: Built to build capacities
The Director of CBCHS Prof. Tih Pius has told
participants at an Early Infant Diagnosis Training of
Trainers' (TOT) workshop to be assiduous in a bid to
achieve 'A Cameroon without HIV'. The DHS
said this at the opening of the workshop,
which took place from February 20-22, 2013
at the Baptist Centre Bamenda. The 3-day
TOT workshop was organized by the
CDC/PEPFAR HIV Free Northwest Project.
Opening the workshop, the DHS
informed health providers that Cameroon has
opted for the elimination of mother to child
transmission of HIV to at least 2%. Using
Early Infant Diagnosis (EID) as an approach
to attain this goal, Prof. Tih charged the
participants to get to work after the training;
teach/build capacities in other persons from
the knowledge they will gather and be
hardworking to achieve 'A Cameroon without
HIV/AIDS'. He said 'after the head
knowledge we want to see the results of what
you have learned when you go back'.
The HIV Free NW Programme
Manager, Ms Kuni Esther said the objectives
of the workshop is to enable participants from
about 9 districts to understand EID in the Prevention
of Mother to Child Transmission of HIV, the
procedures entailed and the role they are going to
play in implementing EID and eliminating mother to
child transmission of HIV.
The main facilitator at the workshop was
Ms Esther Lyonga from the Centre for Disease
Control (CDC) Mutengene Laboratory. In one of her
presentations, Ms Lyonga said the Early Infant
Diagnosis programme allows for early diagnosis of
HIV in exposed infants, early management of
exposed and infected infants and also serves as a tool
to assess the efficacy and efficiency of PMTCT
interventions. Reports say the exposed children who
are at highest risk are the ones receiving the fewest
services. Ms Lyonga reiterated that without Early
Infant Diagnosis of HIV and treatment, about 34%
MBH Dental Department
Mr. Gemuh Samuel Abong, dental assistant at the
clinic told CBCHS Press that the presence in MBH
of Dr. Jennifer, maxillo-facial surgeon from the USA
is of great relief to the staff and clients. Mr. Gemuh
said Dr. Jennifer is assisting in major surgeries and
procedures. At the time of this report, three other
dental students from the CBC Private Training
School for Health Personnel Banso were on practical
experience at the clinic. Going by statistics in the
clinic, Mr. Gemuh reported that a total of 247
patients were seen at the clinic in January 2013 up
from 220 patients in the same month in 2012 at a
time when there was a resident dentist. Mr. Gemuh
lamented that this increased patients attendance is
hampered by lack of space for expansion. Mr.
Gemuh sat in for the head of department, Mrs. Kusi
Miriam who was on annual leave.
MBH PMTCT Site
The PMTCT Coordinator of the HIV Free NW
programme, Mr. Nkuoh Godlove says three
trainings for service providers were scheduled to
hold in the first quarter of 2013. Two of such
trainings have held in LAP Bamkikai and Bamenda
in the month of February while the third will hold in
March still in Bamenda. According to Mr. Nkuoh,
the trainings are intended to cover up for those staff
who either left various health centres on transfer or
to school.
of infected infants die within the first year of their life,
50% die before their second birthday and 75% are
dead by 5 years of age. These figures, she said, should
Collection of DBS
trigger health providers to act fast and be assiduous as
the DHS prescribed. To Ms Lyonga, HIV disease
progression is more rapid in children than in adults.
She noted that “HIV exposed infants must be identified
at every port of entry in the health facility, the positive
cases linked to care and treatment centres for take
treatment…until we get the expected outcome shall we
know we have succeeded in EID”.
For the three days, participants were
schooled on the basic facts on HIV, an overview of
early infant diagnosis in PMTCT, Early Infant
Diagnosis DBS collection, drying, packaging and
shipment. The participants had practical sessions in
three health facilities in Bamenda. Prior to the
practice, the main facilitator, Ms Esther Lyonga and
the Supervisor of CBCHS Laboratory Services, Mr.
Tancho Samuel demonstrated in the class how the
Mbingo Baptist Hospital & her Institutions
Meantime, supervision is going on in the
various coordination areas across the region such as
BBH, Ndu and Ashong. The programme coordinator
announced a joint supervision visit with a team from
the Centre for Disease Control (CDC) Mutengene to
Bali, Tubah and Bamenda Health Districts. Similarly,
the programme has planned supervision to Furu Awa
in the month of March in collaboration with some
community agents. On the same score, some staff are
being orientated to cover work in Nkambe and Wum
areas.
In the Nutrition Improvement Programme
(NIP), the 12 newly trained staff are continuing
practical experience in four CBCHS stations as
follows: 3 in BBH, 3 in MBH, 2 in Mboppi and one in
Nkwen. The programme supervisor, Mr. Nkuoh
Godlove revealed that they will be posted in June after
they go through the 6-month period of orientation. He
was optimistic that the positive feedback so far from
these stations indicates that the new NIP staff on
practical experience are doing well.
In a similar vein, a student from the National
School of Agro Industrial Sciences, University of
Ngaoundere is currently undergoing a 3-month
internship at the Nutrition Improvement Programme
department in Mbingo. Reports say his internship will
last from January 28 to April 2013.
Page 5
Volume 3, No. 44
procedure is done. Participants were also drilled on
the SMS Printer which prints PCR results directly
from the CDC Laboratory as soon as they are done
with the analysis. This new device reduces the
turnaround time for results to reach the
various units. It was announced that some
districts in the NW region have been
selected to pilot the use of this printer.
Several times during the
workshop, the participants were told to
build capacities in other staff and
implement the programme. It is worth
noting that the trainers are expected to
train different categories of health
providers (laboratory technicians,
midwives, ANC nurses and others in the
different points of entry and exit of an
HIV pregnant mother) in at least three
health facilities before they are certified
as trainers. They were urged to go for
supervision to ensure that things are
moving well and if those they trained are
adhering to the practice.
At the end of the workshop, one
of the trainees regretted the fact that some
children must have been missed because they didn't
have knowledge on EID. He lauded the facilitators for
the mastery of their subject matter and promised on
behalf of the others to be performant when they return
to their stations. The trainees came up with an action
plan and a way forward to help them scale up Early
Infant Diagnosis in children exposed to HIV in their
districts. Training packs (manual, DBS collection
training materials amongst others) were distributed to
the various districts.
It should be noted that the EID TOT
Workshop in Bamenda ran simultaneously with the
second group in Mbingo. Meanwhile, the third group
of the same workshop ran from February 25-27, 2013.
MBH Eye Department
The CBCHS ophthalmologist and retinal surgeon, Dr.
Tambe Emmanuel Arrey visited and worked in MBH
eye department in January 2013. During the period,
Dr. Tambe carried out some specialized surgeries on a
daily basis in collaboration with the resident
ophthalmologist. A senior staff at the department,
Denis MacNgwayi told CBCHS Press that Dr. Tambe
also had time to fellowship with the staff with whom
he had worked together for several years before his
transfer to Baptist Hospital Mutengene last year. Mr.
MacNgwayi said a new ophthalmologist, Dr. Jude
Eric also did one-month practical experience at MBH
eye department before being posted to Mboppi. In
more staff news, two Ophthalmic Medical Assistant
(OMA) students also underwent practical
experiences at the department for 2 weeks during
which they shared new knowledge with the other
staff.
In other news, plans are underway towards
the World Glaucoma Week from March 10-26, 2013.
According to reports, the commemoration will hold
under the theme, “The World is a wonder to see every
day. So do not let glaucoma get on the way”. Our
informant encourages other CBCHS institutions to
join the eye department in the commemorative
activities. He said activities during the week will
include health education in the hospital, schools and
other tertiary institutions around Mbingo as well as a
talk on radio.

The Health Board Chronicle
BBH Administration
The Banso Baptist Hospital participated actively
during the National Youth Day activities in Kumbo
Central on February 11, 2013. The Private Training
School for Health Personnel (PTSHP) Banso bagged
home the second prize in march past while the
Technical Services Department of BBH won the first
prize in a masonry (building) exhibition and two
others resulting in a total of four prizes for BBH.
The prizes were presented to the various
departments during the morning devotions of
February 12, 2013 at the BBH Chapel by the Assistant
Administrator for Personnel, Mrs. Tanka Edith. The
Assistant Administrator expressed satisfaction at the
hospital's performance during the Youth Day
activities. She equally appreciated the staff that
participated for their hard work and called on them
not to relent their efforts.
In other news, BBH now has a new standby
generator. The generator was installed in the
hospital in January 2013. Unlike the old one, the new
power generator is economical as far as fuel
consumption and repairs are concerned. The BBH
Senior Administrator, Mr. Ngam Joseph Ful told the
CBCHS Press that with the new generator now in
place, they have successfully eliminated the noise
pollution that the old one used to produce. According
to the BBH Senior Administrator, the generator has
been acquired, thanks to the personal efforts of the
CBC Director of Health Services (DHS), Prof. Tih
Pius Muffih who stepped in very timely to assist them
to meet one of their prioritized goals for 2013. Mr.
Ngam said the hospital had budgeted about FCFA 22
million for a generator, but thanks to the DHS they
were able to get it at about FCFA 8.5 million.
In a related development, some new
comfortable seats have been installed at the BBH
MBH Institutions
..from pg5
Support Group
Programme
The new supervisor, Mr. Nkuoh Godlove has told the
CBCHS Press that the Support Group programme,
which is in transition, will henceforth be managed
within PMTCT coordination areas. According to the
SG supervisor, this new nomenclature will expand
the programme and affect more members at the
grassroots. At the time of this report, meetings to this
effect have already been held in Nkwen, Banso, Ndu
and Ashong coordination areas. Mr. Nkuoh said the
PMTCT Coordinator for the SW region, Mrs. Kidio
Josephine has been instructed to divulge SG activities
to the various coordination areas in the SW region.
MBH Chaplaincy
Department
The hospital head chaplain, Rev. Nfor Ephesians says
his department is taking every opportunity to affect
the lives of both the staff and patients spiritually. To
this effect, Rev. Nfor told CBCHS Press that the first
hospital management committee meeting on January
4, 2013 was reserved for a period of retreat. The
retreat, he said, held at the Ndawara Tea Estate.
Drawing inspiration from II Timothy 2:20-21, the
head chaplain challenged the management
committee members under the theme, “Vessels of
Honour”. At the time of this report, the MBH
chaplaincy department was strategizing on how to
coordinate the CBCHS Prayer Chain, billed for
February 15, 2013.
Banso Baptist Hospital & her Institutions
Outpatient department (OPD). The modern seats that
have the capacity to accommodate 300 patients were
purchased in January 2013 and as at now 40 of them
have already been coupled and put to use. “Our
clients now feel comfortable and relaxed as
compared to when they used to sit on benches,” the
BBH Senior Administrator remarked. He revealed
that some of the chairs will be placed in other places
where patients come for consultation such as the Eye
and Dental departments.
The BBH Senior Administrator has visited
two LAP Health Posts that were recently upgraded
into Integrated Health Centres. He visited Nwat and
Koussam on January 30 and February 1, 2013
respectively to evaluate their take off and needs. Mr.
Ngam told the CBCHS Press that Chiefs of Centre
have been appointed in the two Integrated Health
Centres who are expected to work in collaboration
with him to ensure that the centres are provided with
basic necessities in a cost effective manner.
BBH Laboratory
Catches Up With New
Technology
A new laboratory equipment, Clinical Diagnostic
(Clindiag) Haematology Analyzer has been
dedicated at the Banso Baptist Hospital (BBH). The
dedication took place on February 12, 2013 in the
BBH Laboratory. While dedicating the newly
acquired equipment, the erstwhile General
Supervisor of the CBCHS Chaplaincy and Social
Works Department, Rev. Tanni Moses said this
newest development in the hospital was a cause for
thanksgiving to God. He entreated God for wisdom
in the lives of the Lab staff as they operate the
machine and also for a long life span for the said
machine which usage will bring glory to God's name.
Presenting the Clindiag Haematology
Analyzer to the BBH staff earlier at the morning
devotion, Mr. Buri Donald, Tutor at the CBC Private
Training School for Health Personnel (PTSHP) and
Cameroon Health Technology (CHT) Field
Technician said the new equipment, which is fully
automated, can run 22 parameters (tests) on
individual blood in a single minute. The Lab, he
added, has always been blamed for long patients'
waiting time in the hospital but, according to him,
this will hence be a thing of the past.
With an average life span of 7 years, he
said the machine will help in reducing patients'
waiting time as the tests that used to be done in five
hours will take just ten minutes. Also, Mr. Buri
revealed that the cost of treatment for patients will
reduce by half following the putting in place of the
new equipment. Quizzed on the implications of the
new equipment in BBH, Mr. Buri said patients' turn
out will increase drastically because what they used
to do manually will now be done using an automated
system.
Four Clindiag Haematology Analyzers
have been purchased for the entire CBCHS
specifically for Mboppi Baptist Hospital Douala,
Baptist Hospital Mutengene, Nkwen Baptist Health
Centre and BBH. Mr. Buri revealed that Mbingo
Baptist Hospital already had a similar machine but of
a different mark. To ensure the proper installation and
functioning of the machines, Mr. Buri Donald and
Mr. Gwagsi Everett were trained last year in Kenya to
do the servicing and repairs in case of malfunction.
The four machines were purchased at the end of 2012
with the help of Cameroon Health Technology
(CHT) and installed during the last week of January
2013.
Page 6
Volume 3, No. 44
BBH Palliative Care Unit
The head of the BBH Palliative Care Unit has
expressed their desire to reach out to patients
discharged from the hospital who live out of their
catchment area. Mrs. Samtan Mercy was speaking
recently to CBCHS Press following difficulties they
are facing in reaching out to some of their terminal
patients. She said due to long distances, they are
unable to cover longer distances to provide home
care to clients especially in areas of Ngoketunjia
Division, which is outside of their catchment area.
The head nurse revealed that they are
currently following up 25 terminal cases and
reiterated that the number would have been more but
for their inability to cover communities outside their
catchment area. She noted that they recently visited
their clients in Lassin, Oku, Djottin, Tobin and Jakiri
to mention but these few. At the time of this report,
the Palliative Care team was making more visits to
the communities to provide home care for their
patients. Mrs. Samtan said they have been meeting
difficult cases with no clear working diagnosis that
warrant them to involve the AIDS Care and
Prevention (ACP) Doctor in BBH, Ebogo Titus to
properly address them.
Quizzed, Mrs. Samtan said they have
volunteers who have been going out to the
communities to identify palliative care patients.
Upon the identification of these patients, she
mentioned that they are given some care before
inviting the patients to the hospital. “Most of our
clients are those whose terminal conditions were
diagnosed and confirmed in the hospital,” Mrs.
Samtan added. She continued by saying, “Though it
is challenging to see people in their malaise, we
rejoice that in most cases our interventions bring
about considerable improvement in their health
conditions.”
In a separate development, Mrs. Samtan
Mercy attended Palliative Care quality
improvement meeting in the CBC Headquarters in
Nkwen, Bamenda on February 8, 2013. The
meeting, according to her, had as objective to seek
ways of reinstating the proper functioning of
Palliative Care in the CBCHS as was the case before.
The meeting was chaired by the CBCHS Palliative
Care Supervisor, Dr. Oukouomi William and
attended by Palliative Care nurses from Banso,
Mbingo and Mutengene.
BBH PT Department
The BBH Physiotherapy (PT) Department has
received a consignment of wheel chairs as part of the
donation of some 500 wheel chairs to the CBCHS by
an organization called, Wheel Chair Mission. The
500 wheel chairs that came, thanks to the efforts of
Dr. Jayme Mckercher from the US and Dr. Dennis
Palmer, were received in Mbingo Baptist Hospital
recently. BBH is expected to receive a total of 200
wheel chairs out of this lot. According to the Head of
the BBH PT Department, Mr. Fanfon Timothy, 33
wheel chairs had already been received.
Reports say during her voluntary service
with the CBCHS in 2012 as a PT trainer, Dr.
McKercher realized the great need for wheel chairs
by the CBCHS to serve her clients who are unable to
move. In a chat with the CBCHS Press, Mr. Fanfon
said the wheel chairs will be of great use to the
department since they have identified many clients
in the communities who are unable to move. He said
he was already working to compile the list of
potential beneficiaries in Bui, Donga Matung and
Ngoketunjia Divisions where they have been
carrying out outreach activities. A meeting bringing
Cont’d on pg7

The Health Board Chronicle
BBH PT Dept. ..from pg6
together the BBH administration, the Community
Rehabilitation Services and the PT department to
were still Acid Fast Basili positive). According to
statistics from the Unit, two of these cases ended up
as Multi Drug Resistant (MDR) TB. By and large,
Mr. Kongnyu said they plan to step up health
education on TB.
ISFB Kumbo
A group of students from the Special Education
Needs Teacher Training Institute (SENTI),
Bamenda have been on internship at the Integrated
School for the Blind (ISFB), Kumbo. The 7 students
spent the whole of February 2013 at the school after
another group of students completed their own
internship in the same institution in January 2013.
The last group is expected at the school in March
2013.
The choice of the ISFB Kumbo,
according to the Supervisor of that school, Mrs.
Kutwah Magdalene, is because they offer special
education which happens to be one of the areas of
studies at SENTI. She said the students who are out
to acquire some practical experience first spend
some time observing the ISFB teachers as they teach
and then later are involved in teaching with lessons
provided by the host institution. Mrs. Kutwah added
that the interns equally spend some time interacting
with pupils of ISFB to understand how they live
with their disability as well as understanding the
history and administrative set up of the school.
The ISFB Supervisor told CBCHS Press
that one of the key objectives for the SENTI
students is to master the strategies applied by the
teachers in teaching children with visual
impairment and the use of the various teaching
devices. “The interns are also drilled on disability
related issues especially barriers set by the
communities and even teachers themselves for
persons with disabilities. They also learn the
appropriate language to use with persons with
disabilities and how to make the environment
accessible for them,” Mrs. Kutwah articulated. She
reiterated that they have as focus to ensure inclusive
education in the communities. Given that the interns
might be posted in such schools that have persons
living with disabilities, Mrs. Kutwah said they
expect the interns to properly apply the knowledge
acquired from the ISFB Kumbo.
Jikijem Baptist Health
Centre - Patient
commits suicide
A patient, whose names CBCHS Press got as Ngum
David Nai, disappeared from his hospital bed and
died at a water fall below the health centre from
what observers termed as “Suicide”. According to
reports, Ngum David Nai was brought in on January
15, 2013 from Jiyane in Oku Subdivision. A week
later on January 20, he disappeared from the health
centre at about 7pm. All search attempts by the
security guards and his caregivers yielded no fruit.
Two days later on January 22, the 30-year old man
was reportedly seen dead at a water fall below the
health centre with his head covered and his clothes
tied round his head. The forces of law and order
were alerted. A law officer arrived the scene at about
10:50pm but only the assistance of other stronger
men could bring out the lifeless body from the
'dangerous' cliff.
As investigations are opened, it is
rumoured that Ngum David Nai who is said to be a
traditional healer was brought to the health centre
for treatment because he was brought down from a
kolanut tree attempting to commit suicide. The late
man was married with two children.
Page 7
Volume 3, No. 44
In other news, a two days training on the
Client Oriented Provider Efficient (COPE) services
took place at Jikijem Baptist Health Centre (JBHC)
from January 17-18, 2013 for the entire staff.
According to our reporter in Jikijem, Lon Isaac, the
facilitators; Mr. Fombe Justin and Dini Emmanuel
schooled participants on the meaning of COPE and
how it functions. The seminar workshops identified
difficulties and challenges and an action plan was
drawn on how to come up with solutions to the
identified problems. At the end of the seminar, the
chief of centre of JBHC praised the facilitators for
opening their eyes in many problem areas and
challenged his staff to implement the action in the
best interest of the health centre.
Kouhouat Baptist Health
Centre
The staff of Kouhouat Baptist Health Centre (KBHC)
have resolved to embrace 2013 with the hope to
register greater achievements. This resolve was made
during the general staff meeting that held on January
9, 2013. The meeting came after the various
departments and committees of the health centre had
met to evaluate the year 2012. Following the
meetings at the various levels, many innovations
were envisaged for the current year geared towards
ensuring the provision of quality health care to the
clients.
Presiding over the general staff meeting,
the Chief of Centre (COC) for KBHC, Mr. Kelese
Godlove Nkeng led the attendees to review 2012;
its activities, planned goals, growth, and
weaknesses. This was to enable them know how far
they went and ascertain a new strategy to forge
ahead. The review presented by the COC revealed a
drop in client turnout and general drop in the staff
strength as some were transferred and others went
out for further studies without replacements. He
said the new maternity block that is pending
roofing and equipping continues to pose a serious
worry to staff and clients of KBHC. Amongst other
things, one of the major challenges the COC
reiterated was the breakdown of the generator,
which has not been repaired for over a year now,
making work difficult since power outages by AES
SONEL are frequent.
The COC also mentioned that the absence of a vehicle
to enable staff to carry outreach activities have left
many people in rural areas in Lower Noun Division
of the West Region unreached. In spite of the
challenges, the COC's address revealed a wide range
of successes recorded in 2012. The Doctor's support
visits to KBHC with a team from Banso Baptist
Hospital that made great impact, the earmarking of
two of their outreach villages for Primary Health
Centres in 2013, capacity building through clinical
presentations and seminars, supervisory
encouragements from hierarchy that vitalized the
staff, health prevention education by staff in the
community to name but these few are some of the
successes that were recorded.
Given the goals set for 2013 in KBHC, Mr.
Kelese posited that this will undoubtedly be a year of
greater achievements. Top on the list of priorities, he
said, is the completion and equipping of the maternity
block, purchase of the health centre vehicle and
ensuring continuous availability of drugs. The staff
pledged to consolidate solidarity, professionalism
and faithfulness as evidences of Christian love to all.
Above all, they resolved to revive standard nursing
care and implement infection prevention in the health
centre and the community so as to remain the most
reputed health institution in the Bamoun Community.
In a separate development, KBHC on
January 13, 2013 played host to over 150 staff
Cont’d on pg8

The Health Board Chronicle
Jikijem H/C ..from pg7
members of Ekounou, Etoug-Ebe, Bafoussam and
Bangolan Baptist Health Centres who came
visiting the Foumbam Palace and the touristic
museum, situated some 24 km from KBHC.
According to our Kouhouat based correspondent,
Nfor Gilbert Shey, after the touristic visits the
visitors proceeded to KBHC for a sporting gala and
fellowship.
The august guests were received in
Kouhouat by a mammoth crowd of villagers and
clients led by the Village Head, Nji Fifen Ibrahim
who amidst joy told all present that he is supportive
of all efforts of KBHC. Speaking shortly before the
sporting gala, the Assistant Administrator for
Etoug-Ebe Baptist Health Centre, Mr. Yongwa
Zacks said it was a joyful experience for them to be
in Kouhouat; leaving their busy schedules and
travelling to the rural area to fellowship as
colleagues. He added that the visit was in line with
the mission statement of the CBCHS encouraging
the staff of the CBCHS to continue sharing Christ's
love through fellowship, giving, and sporting
activities. He said such fellowships will enable the
staff to interact with other colleagues resulting in
improved quality services.
The COCs of Ekounou, Bangolan, Bafoussam and
Kouhouat, Mr. Sam Pius, Mr. Yham Noah, Mr.
Kibang Eric and Mr. Kelese Godlove respectively,
took turns after the sporting activities to stress on
the importance of such fellowships amongst staff
of the institutions of the CBCHS. They variously
said the results of such activities are to promote
harmony, foster perfection in service provision and
enhance the acquisition of new knowledge through
interaction.
Ngounso Baptist
Health Centre
Field reports from our correspondent in Ngounso
Baptist Health Centre (NBHC), Njobi Shey Divine
indicate that the health centre has been
experiencing growth in all domains since 2011.
According to Njobi, there has been significant
growth in services, personnel and infrastructures
during the period under review at NBHC.
About infrastructure, Njobi Shey noted that four
powerful structures were constructed including a
befitting maternity ward. Patient turnout rose from
9,137 from 2011 to 10,173 patients in 2012 giving
a difference 1,036 patients. The number of staff
also increased from 34 to 41.
Our reporter stated that Ngounso Health
Centre Maternity has grown both qualitatively and
quantitatively standing out in the whole of Noun
Division of the West Region of Cameroon for
quality healthcare provision. Acting as a referral
maternity in that division, the facility faces the
challenge of managing the numerous cases of
referrals to the health centre. In a chat with Njobi
Divine, a midwife at the Health Centre, Mrs. Shey
Delphine who ended her midwifery course in
August 2012 at PTSHP Banso recounted that some
of the challenging cases they see include: retained
placenta, post partum haemorrhage, shoulder
dystocia amongst others. She disclosed that
management of these difficult deliveries has been
made easy and effective, thanks to a seminar she
attended on Advanced Life Support in Obstetric
(ALSO) in Bamenda on December 5, 2012.
Mrs. Shey reiterated that ALSO is a
valuable course, which at the time of this report,
arrangements were being made with the chief of
centre (COC) to do a clinical presentation on it.
She further remarked that maternity services in the
entire CBC Health Services will be highly upgraded if
all midwives attend such a seminar. Mrs. Shey told our
reporter that NBHC, however, see a lot of clients
booking for ante-natal clinic compared to the number
of deliveries. To solve the problem, the midwife said
there is need for more sensitization in a bid to reduce
home deliveries as well as the risk of transmitting
Hepatitis B Virus and other STDs. Reports from
maternity statistics show an increase of delivery of
307 babies in 2011 to 394 in 2012.
In other news, the Chief of Centre of
NBHC, Mr. Shofola Emmanuel launched a free HIV
screening on November 31, 2012. He sent out the
health centre staff in twos for sensitisation in primary
and secondary schools, churches, as well as 'Njangi'
groups in the Ngounso community. Reports say the
indigenes of Ngounso and its neighbouring villages
happily received the information as was reflected in
the number that turned out for the screening. A total of
100 persons were tested free for HIV with a positive
rate of 10%.
Baptist Hospital Banyo
Two staff of Baptist Hospital Banyo (BHB) have
embraced Christianity, thanks to evangelistic efforts
in line with the overall purpose of the CBCHS. The
pastor of Wouroum CBC Church, Rev. Fibuin
Emmanuel baptised the two converts, Nfor Aminu and
Chin Aruna recently. The joyful converts both
testified the loving mercy of Jesus and promised to
propagate His Word to others.
The HS Press reporter and Assistant
Administrator of BHB, Mr. Fabombi Dickson says the
population of the Adamawa region is motivated by the
frequent visits to BHB of the CBCHS Orthopedic
Surgeon, Dr. Nana Christopher and his team.
According to reports, the population that is mostly
peasant and poor could hardly afford transportation to
MBH or BBH, let alone be able to pay their medical
bills.
In other news, some 11 people with
disabilities (PWDs) have benefited from free wheel
chairs donated by a US based organization via the
CBCHS, thanks to the goodwill and facilitation of Dr.
Denis Palmer. The Lamido of Banyo, His Majesty
Mohaman Gabdo Yaya personally presided at the
donation ceremony where he plainly applauded the
consistent strive of the Cameroon Baptist Convention
Health Services in the development and improvement
of lives of the people of Banyo and its environs. Like
Oliver Twist, the Lamido affirmed that more things
are still to come from this generous development
partner of the people of Banyo. While thanking God
for the donor organization, the Lamido urged the
beneficiaries to make good use of the wheelchairs.
The beneficiaries and family members joined their
paramount ruler to say “me yeti, me yeti, me yeti,”
which means thank you, thank you, thank you.
Page 8
Volume 3, No. 44

The Health Board Chronicle
BHM Administration
Staff members of Baptist Hospital Mutengene
(BHM) have been cautioned to take their time of
work seriously. This caution from BHM
administration came on February 8 at the hospital
premises during the first general staff meeting for
2013. The Supervisor of Nursing Services (SNS),
Mr. Mullam Emmanuel noted that devotions start at
7:00am and staff have to come early, ready for work.
The SNS appreciated a communiqué from the
Director of Health Services encouraging the major
hospitals to start a Day Care Centre to take care of
staff babies. According to the letter, the CBCHS has
a responsibility to recruit staff for the centre. The
SNS commented that because of the problem of
space, BHM cannot for now host a Day Care Centre.
This will be done in future when space becomes
available.
In a separate story, the SW Regional
Delegate of Public Health, Dr. Victor Mbome Njie
made a stop at Baptist Hospital Mutengene on
February 08, 2013 as part of his tour to health
institutions in the Region and particularly to the
Tiko Health District. The delegate and his entourage
(among whom was the DMO for Tiko Health
District) were welcomed by the Administrator and
his staff. Some administrative staff took the
delegate and his entourage in a tour round the
hospital premises.
A new incinerator for BHM is under
construction by some experts. The Quality
Assurance committee of the hospital identified the
need for it when the old one started breaking off.
The SNS wishes the incinerator be completed at the
shortest time possible so that they can properly
dispose of their hospital waste especially sharp
objects.
Dr. Anne-Marie Moukala-Cadet, a
medical doctor based in the US was in BHM
recently with one other doctor. Mr. Mullam
Emmanuel reported that Dr. Anne-Marie is
interested to work with some communities in
providing quality health services through the
CBCHS. According to the SNS, Dr. Anne-Marie
wants to construct two health Centres in the Littoral
Region but will be tapping from the expertise of the
CBCHS in the administration and management of
the two facilities. Reports say the visiting physician
has been out of the country for about 22 years. She
has seen how health services are rendered in the
West and also realised that in Cameroon, many
people die of diseases that could be prevented or
cured.
BHM Dental
Department
Two sets of students are in Baptist Hospital
Mutengene dental department for internship, all to
end in March this year. Two of them are Expanded
Duty Dental Assistants and two dental auxiliaries.
Mrs. Moyeh Mercy, head of department (HOD) of
the dental department stated that the dental staff are
putting the students through, especially the dental
auxiliaries on the use of instruments, preparation of
materials, as well as orientating them on how to
autoclave, clean the dental unit after each procedure
and how to instruct clients. Apart from the coaching
and orientation given to the dental auxiliaries and
the Expanded Dental Assistants, Mrs. Moyeh noted
that their presence has reduced the work load on the
department staff.
Mrs. Moyeh reported that the Out of
Stock situation of dental supplies has reduced. She
said the supplies situation since 2012 has been good
Baptist Hospital Mutengene & her Institutions
with material like the Glass Ionomer Cement
(GIC) now available. She prays the situation
remains the same.
In a separate development, the School
Brushing Programme has not commenced since
the beginning of the academic year 2012/2013 that
is almost coming to an end mainly because of lack
of material and also due to inadequate staffing.
With 5 permanent staff and four on internship, the
department saw 366 clients in January 2013.
BHM TB Control Unit
The TB Control nurse in BHM, Mr. Ndika Alfred
attended a TB Service Improvement meeting in
Bamenda on February 09, 2013. Mr. Ndika told
CBCHS Press that an important decision arrived at
during the meeting was for TB nurses in the
various Diagnostic and Treatment Centres to
mentor a nurse on basic information on
Tuberculosis. This is to ensure that the centre is
fully covered in case of absence of the TB nurse.
Mr. Ndika said he is going to discuss with the
Supervisor of Nursing Services to assign a nurse to
be mentored on TB services meanwhile he will
continue to orientate the nurses at the Care and
Treatment Centre. Still to improve on services in
the TB programme, the participants were
encouraged to use the fluorescent microscope to
detect TB. Reports say with this equipment, smear
positive TB patients will not be missed out. The
nurses were therefore charged to requisite for
reagent for the machine from their various
regional funds.
In other issues, the TB nurses are to
intensify measures in improving cure rate of TB,
send those suspected for TB for screening and
place them early on treatment while those for retreatment
should be sent to the centre that does
culture and sensitivity test. Mr. Ndika noted that
the TB Coordination meeting also emphasized
health talks to vulnerable clients for service
improvement.
HSC Administration
The Southwest Regional Delegate for Public
Health, Dr. Victor Mbome Njie visited the Health
Services Complex (HSC) Mutengene recently to
assess the possible effect of the new settlement
around the HSC which can affect the water
borehole used in the production of HESCO Water.
The Administrator of HSC, Mr. Ngang Paul
accompanied the Delegate and his entourage to the
borehole. The Delegate hinted the HSC
administration on the procedures they have to
follow to secure the safety of the borehole. The
Senior Divisional Officer (SDO) for Fako in line
with contact tour in Tiko Subdivision visited HSC
on February 20-21, 2013.
The Day Care Centre that went
operational in HSC Mutengene in January 2013 is
going on well and serving as a nanny or baby sitter
to look after babies of female staff while they are at
work. The HSC Administrator explained that their
centre kicked off before the receipt of the DHS'
letter of January 23, 2013 informing institutions to
run a Day Care Centre in order that staff do not
struggle with work and baby care. Mr. Ngang said
HSC Mutengene Day Care Centre is managed by
the Spiritual Committee of HSC headed by Ps.
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Volume 3, No. 44
BHM Maternity
A baby with Enacephalus was born in Baptist Hospital
Mutengene and died five minutes after delivery.
According to Mr. Wirba Ivo Kosho, a midwife at BHM
maternity this rather rare case was delivered in the later
part of January 2013. Mr. Wirba said Enacephalus is a
congenital malformation in which a baby is born with a
very small head or no head at all. He further explained
that the cause is unknown but some health practitioners
attribute it to folic acid deficiency. Stating its rare
nature, Mr. Wirba said many doctors have gone through
their career seeing perhaps, just a single case. Reports
say the client (mother of the abnormal baby) came for an
echography in BHM when she was about 7 months
pregnant and the result stated that the baby was
abnormal. BHM chief medical officer, Dr. Gad Fokum
medically counselled the client and after psycho-social
and spiritual support, she was given induced labour. She
later was delivered of a baby boy with malformation.
The midwife, Mr. Wirba noted that other
complicated cases increasingly referred to the BHM
maternity are prolonged labour, complicated
pregnancies resulting in placenta praevia, abruption,
and eclampsia. According to statistics, a total of 70
deliveries were done in January 2013 and by February
12, 2013 the maternity has registered 29 births already.
BHM Eye Department
The BHM eye department looks forward to moving to
the new structure under construction. The Head of
Department, Mr. Fai Samuel said, according to a new
decision from BHM management, the eye department
will move entirely to the new structure and occupy the
second floor and part of the third floor. The new
structure will comprise of an eye theatre and wards for
eye patients, more consultation rooms (about five) and a
conference room. Further reports say the new structure
will have space for the different diagnostic machines.
At the time of this report, Dr. Njikang Eric, an
ophthalmologist was in BHM for a one month
orientation with Dr. Tambe after which he will be
working in Mboppi Baptist Hospital.
Health Services Complex & her Institutions
Ngange Silas. The Centre at the time of this report had
five kids and the administration was planning for a
meeting in February with the parents to assess the
children's need amongst other issues about the Centre.
In other news, the HSC Administration is
working on developing a plan for a fish farm. The area
for the project has been located, trees have been felled
and the next step is being awaited.
In his other capacity as the Operations
Manager of Central Pharmacy, Mr. Ngang Paul
disclosed that HESCO Water since January 2013
operates as a separate entity. The project has as manager
Jeff Brown who is a missionary from Canada, with Mr.
Mih Johannes as the Assistant Manager. Mr. Ngang
revealed that a supervisory committee (including him)
has been set up to evaluate the performance of the
HESCO Water Project.
YONEFOH Mutengene
As a programme with focus on the youthful population,
the Youth Network for Health (YONEFOH) has been
very active in the month of February carrying out
education and VCT in schools and communities in line
with the Bilingualism Day and National Youth Day
activities. According to the YONEFOH Coordinator for
the SW, Mrs. Ngum Lauretta Barbara, the topics
presented were diversified to meet the needs of the
students they met. The topics ranged from HIV and

The Health Board Chronicle
YONEFOH Mutengene
..from pg9
AIDS prevention, behaviour change, and
reproductive health amongst others. Some of the
schools where sensitisation took place included:
SURE Foundation Tiko, STAMOTEC Tiko,
IMPASS Tiko, BGS Molyko, GBHS Mutengene,
GBHS Muea and OIC Buea. A debate on the topic,
'Bilingualism enhances professionalism in the
health services' did not take place because one of
the schools to debate failed to turn out on the
scheduled date.
On National Youth Day, February 11,
2013, YONEFOH staff carried out Voluntary
Counselling and Testing (VCT) at Community
Field Upper Costain Tiko. A total of 180 students
were tested for HIV with 4 positive cases and one
indeterminate case. HIV posters carrying messages
centred on the World AIDS Day theme, 'Getting to
Zero Infections' were distributed to schools, which
they used to march and to later post in their
respective schools. During the youth week, VCT
was suspended in some schools because of limited
test kits. The Coordinator for the SW said consent
forms were sent to schools for the students,
parents/guardians to sign before the day of HIV
testing.
At press time, the programme in the
Southwest Region was scheduling a peer educators
training course to hold from February 21-22, 2013.
Invitation to the training was given during
sensitisation in the various schools.
CIACP Mutengene
The Supervisor of the Community AIDS
Education Programme (CIACP), Mrs. Ngum
Lauretta has remarked that the programme has
proven to be a good tool in checking the spread of
HIV in the SW region. The Supervisor told
CBCHS Press recently as she explained the focus
of the programme. She disclosed that many people
in the communities have known about some AIDS
Care and Prevention Programme components and
other services offered in CBCHS through the
Community AIDS Education Programme.
The staff are currently working on the
programme report of activities carried out within
2011-2013, which will be submitted to the
programme's funder, Bread for the World.
Mrs. Ngum revealed that they are going to explore
some radio stations to take HIV education to the
community. The radio stations are Radio
Bonakanda, Ocean City Limbe and Kumba,
CRTV Buea and Lebialem Community Radio.
At the time of this report, the
programme was planning for HIV and AIDS
training for Divisional delegates and pedagogic
advisers of Secondary education in the Southwest
Region from February 27-28, 2013. The training,
which was initially planned from February 7-8 but
later on postponed, had as objectives to educate
participants on HIV as well as empowering them
to facilitate HIV education in secondary schools
and monitoring of activities in the field. The
Mboppi Baptist Hospital Douala & her Institutions
Mboppi Baptist Hospital Douala (MBHD) now has
part of public address sound system. The sound
system that is meant for the chapel comprise of a
professional mixer, amplifier, three microphones, a
speaker and a stand.
The instruments were dedicated on
February 13, 2013 during morning devotions.
Reading from II Chronicle 7:4-7 with reference
from Psalms 150: 1-6 and II Corinthians 6:16,
Chaplain Cobnel Botchat expounded on what
dedication is. He said it is setting apart a place, an
object or a person for an exclusive purpose. He
mirrored King Solomon who dedicated the temple
when it was completed in the presence of the
Levites, musicians and other people. The Man of
God used the opportunity to challenge MBHD staff
to rededicate their lives to God in their various
services. He reiterated that it is not the dedication of
the instruments that matters, but of the people to be
using the instruments.
Chaplain Cobnel who also doubles as a
member of the MBHD Music Committee,
appreciated the hospital administration for the kind
gesture and appealed for more to be done to bolster
the music ministry of the hospital. On his part, the
MBHD Administrator, Mr. Nfor Daouda promised
that the best is yet to come for the music ministry of
the hospital.
In other news, our Mboppi-based
correspondent, Bakari Didymus says the CBCHS
prayer chain day in MBHD was a success. The day
was observed on February 15, 2013 in all
institutions of the CBCHS. In MBHD, reports say
eleven prayer points were sub-divided among staff
who exhaustively prayed for each point during
morning devotions. Our informant noted that
Chaplain Cobnel Botchat gave a brief reflection
from Jeremiah 33:1-3 followed by an intense prayer
session led by Viban Catherine before the
commencement of the prayer chain day. The staff
were encouraged to continue praying in line with
the eleven points given throughout the day and as
they go back to their respective homes.
In a separate development, great joy
broke out at the MBHD Maternity department on
February 11, 2013 following the successful
delivery of yet another set of triplets. According to
statistics at the hospital maternity, this is the
second set of triplets delivered in MBHD after the
first one recorded on December 28, 2012.
Reports say 34-year old Ngahgo Doris
Jikeu was admitted in the hospital maternity in the
early hours of the day with complaints of labour
pains (with a gestational age of 37 weeks and five
days). She was examined by Mr. Ngoh Martin, a
midwife popularly referred to as Pa Ngoh. His
echographic examination presented the babies in
good shape. Labour is said to have progressed
successfully with the lady's cervix fully dilated to
the delivery of the babies at 2:19 PM, 2:29 PM and
3:11 PM for the first, second and third
respectively. The first two were females and
weighed 1,870g and 2,470g respectively while the
last who was male weighed 2,550g. At the time of
this report the babies plus their mother were doing
fine.
MBHD Administration
The Administrator of Mboppi Baptist Hospital
Douala (MBHD), Mr. Nfor Douada says they are
80% gone in setting up the general theatre of the
hospital, which will be located at the second floor.
Reports say management is intensifying efforts,
especially with the presence of Dr. Fuka, the
surgeon in MBHD who started work during the
first week of January. Mr. Douada told CBCHS
Press that in the meantime, the surgeon is doing
simple surgeries in the maternity theatre. Stating
that it actually takes time to get a theatre fully
equipped before operations; the Administrator
noted that everything being equal, general surgery
will start fully in the new theatre by early March
2013.
Page 10
Volume 3, No. 44
programme has two new staff; Musoro Solange and
Nformi Joan (who is still undergoing practical
experience).
Central Pharmacy
The Central Pharmacy has embarked on a supervisory
visit to CBCHS facilities. The Assistant General
Manger (AGM) of the Central Pharmacy, Mr. Wanyu
Nathan said the supervisory visit, which started on
February 04, 2013 has so far visited 14 health facilities
in the North, Adamawa, West , a few in the Northwest
and one in the Southwest Regions. The supervisory
team is made up of CP General Manager, Dr. Frujang
Gerald, the second Assistant GM, Pharmacist Ngah
Edward and the Manager for Distribution, Mrs.
Ntumfon Rose.
Mr. Wanyu divulged the importance of the
exercise in which they are determined to cover all
CBCHS facilities by the end of March 2013. He
disclosed that the supervision aims at ensuring that the
pharmacy services are functioning well. During the
visits, they also record the lapses so as to effect changes
that will improve services. In each health centre or
hospital, the team evaluated stock management,
dispensing of drugs to patients and staffing. The AGM
noted that the supervision started at the beginning of the
year during the dry season as an ideal period for them to
visit all the health facilities this year. He announced a
store keeper workshop after this exercise.
In another development, a team from the
Christofell Blinden Mission (CBM), from Australia,
Kenya and Cameroon visited the Central Pharmacy on
Friday, February 8, 2013. The CBM team had a
working session with some CP top brass and were
shown around their areas of interest at the Central
Pharmacy. According to reports, the visibly impressed
team members commended the work going on in the
sterile unit that produces eye drops.
Meantime, two containers of drugs and
medical supplies, 2 White cross containers and other
small consignments are in the process of clearing from
the port in Douala. The AGM said they are also
preparing a list of items to be purchased this year 2013.
In another story, the Supervisor of Nursing
Services (SNS), Mr. Monjuh Anthony said CBC Health
Services has a legacy of standard and quality care, which
is a challenge for staff to maintain in line with the DHS'
call for staff to maintain and improve standards in
relation to their comportment at their places of work.
Mr. Monjuh said many clients come to Mboppi because
of the quality of care CBCHS offers and are sometimes
over expectant. The SNS disclosed that because about
two-third of MBHD nursing staff have not worked
elsewhere, lapses in health provision are being
identified and the errors corrected during clinical
meetings in the hospital. The SNS emphasized that it is
imperative for staff to provide quality services braving
the pressures that will come from clients.
MBHD Eye Department
Mboppi Baptist Hospital Eye Department has witnessed
a steady growth in patient turn out since its inception in
2005. With about 1,289 patients seen in 2005, the eye
department after seven years has grown tremendously to
have seen 22,899 patients in 2012. Out of this number,
10,733 were new patients.
The head of department of Mboppi Eye
Department, Mr. Tontu Zik attributed this increase to the
quality of care given to clients and customer
satisfaction. Expatiating on the quality of care to
patients, Mr. Tontu related that patient reception, the
attention given to them, right diagnoses, reduction of
patients' waiting time are important components in
providing quality care.
Cont’d on pg11

The Health Board Chronicle
MBHD Eye Dept ..from pg10
Meantime, Mr. Tontu revealed that the
new ophthalmologist for Mboppi, Dr. Njikarm Eric
will start work on March 1, 2013. He said with the
presence of an ophthalmologist now at MBHD, the
eye department will commence surgery soon with
the purchase of an operating microscope, which is
highly needed. The HOD said patient load will
increase although few patients with complicated
conditions will still be referred. The HOD said the
evident patients load will be challenging given that
the staff strength remains the same.
MBHD P.T Department
Staff of the physiotherapy department have
remarked that lack of space is obstructing the growth
and provision of some services in the department.
Mr. Nyingcho Rexson explained that some of their
machines such as the hot pack (preferred to the
infrared for back massage and newly introduced in
the system), the exercise therapy machines,
stationary bicycles amongst others are not in use
because of inadequate space. Again there is no space
to teach patients on how to move with crutches. He
reported that another problem is the difficulty of P.T
patients in deep pains to come to the clinic during
ANC, Infant Welfare Clinics (IWC), and Diabetes
clinics because of the population that usually occupy
the corridors.
The department saw 442 patients in
January. One of the complicated cases was a client
with gangrene who was later referred to the
Orthopaedist in Baptist Hospital Mutengene. From
the patient's history, he sustained a fracture in the
lower limb from road accident. The leg was tied so
tight that obstructed the circulation of blood
resulting in gangrene of the distal. Beside the case of
this client, the PT staff (Nyingcho Rexson and Nfor
Wilfred) noted that they have realised that two of
every three patients with a fracture first think of
handling it locally instead of seeking prompt
medical and professional attention. The PT
personnel asserted that this bad attitude poses
problem to their work and endangers the health of
the client.
MBHD Women's Health
Programme
Mboppi Women's Health Programme joined its
counterparts the world over on February 4, 2013 to
commemorate World Cancer Day. Weeklong
activities were carried out in MBHD from February
5-14, 2013 during which health talks were given at
the general OPD and during staff morning
devotions. The programme staff handled topics on
cervical cancer, breast cancer and general
knowledge on cancers. Those involved in the health
talks were Che Hilarious, Simeni Magdelene and the
head of MBHD Out Patient Department. Reports say
that some women came to the clinic to be screened
while others inquired to know more about screening.
The department screened 85 clients in January 2013.
In a related development, the staff at the
clinic revealed that the National Committee for the
Fight against Cancer invited the CBCHS Women's
Health Programme staff to participate in the cervical
cancer screening, which took place at the University
Hospital Centre in Yaounde. Three staff from
CBCHS represented the programme in Yaounde.
Meantime, the second cervigram review
for Zone 1 (constituting Etoug-Ebe, Mboppi, BHM
and Kumba WHP clinics) took place on March 2,
2013 at Mboppi Baptist Hospital. The first Review
for Zone 1 took place in BHM. In staff news, Mr. Che
Hilarious of the Women's Health Programme Banso
is relieving Mrs. Jato Florence who is on maternity
leave.
Voudou Baptist Health
Centre
Voundou Baptist Health Centre (VBHC) that went
operational in January 2013 as a full-fledged health
centre, turned another page in her history on February
7, 2013 following the installation of the pioneer
leadership led by the pioneer chief of centre (COC),
Mr. Njenih George. The Life Abundant Primary
healthcare Programme (LAP) Administrator in
Bamkikai, Mr. Kakute Peter presided at the
installation ceremony witnessed among others by the
leaders of Etoug-Ebe Baptist Health Centre (EBHC),
local authorities of Voundou and the anxious
population. According to our Yaounde based
correspondent, Flavious Abongwa, Voundou is a
small locality in the Mbam and Kim division of the
Centre region characterized by a blend of many tribes
among which are: Yamba, Babute (the indigenes),
Nso, Wimbums, Eton, Yabassi, Bangolan and Sanaga.
In his address, the LAP Administrator was
quick to single out for praise, the Village Health
Committee led by its chairman, Mr. Ndongo David
who diligently worked with LAP in transforming
Voundou from a PHC to a full health centre. Mr.
Kakute thanked Mr. Ndongo for also offering 3
hectares of land for the construction of the health
centre. The LAP Administrator further praised the
Christians of Voundou CBC Church and the staff of
EBHC as well as the staff of VBHC for their hard
work and enormous contributions towards the rapid
transformation of the Voundou PHC to a health centre.
The LAP Administrator formally handed over the
supervision of VBHC to the Assistant Administrator
of EBHC who in turn installed Mr. Njenih George as
the pioneer COC.
The LAP Administrator disclosed that he
formed part of a 3-man delegation comprising the
Assistant Administrator of EBHC, Mr. Yongwa
Zaccheus and the COC of VBHC, Mr. Njenih
George to Maa Jerusalem, 35km from Voundou.
According to the LAP Administrator, the Christians of
this community could not hide their joy as they raised
an on-the-spot amount of 30,810fcfa for the start of a
PHC in Maa Jerusalem. Given that it requires the sum
of at least 645,00fcfa to begin a PHC, the LAP
Administrator charged Mr. Njenih George who
doubles as LAP Field Supervisor to follow up with
the realization of the Maa Jerusalem PHC by paying
regular visits to the community.
For his part, the Assistant Administrator
of EBHC, Mr. Yongwa Zacks praised LAP for their
hard work. He promised to continue from where LAP
has ended but appealed on LAP not to relent their
efforts to ensure the growth of the new health centre.
Mr. Yongwa also thanked the Village Health
Committee, the church and the health centre staff for
hard work and encouraged them to continue in that
spirit.
The chief medical officer of EBHC, Dr.
Bouetou Therese said she cut short her leave to be part
of the history making event in Voundou where she
was visiting for the first time. The CMO saw an
emerging hospital in VBHC and expressed the need
for urgent infrastructural developments.
Other speakers welcomed the new health
centre and pledged their support to keep it growing.
The vision bearer of the Voundo PHC, Rev. Borum
Lawrence of Njoke CBC Church traced the history of
the PHC recalling how the community suffered in the
hands of charlatans who passed for 'doctors'. He said
these charlatans sold expired drugs and sky-rocked
prices of drugs during cocoa season. It was out of
necessity for a health facility that Voundou CBC
Church came out with the vision of a PHC, thanks to
collaboration of the community that rallied to
Page 11
Volume 3, No. 44
contribute part of the money required by LAP and
the leadership of Mrs. Ngah Lydia, COC of EBHC at
the time. Rev. Borum Lawrence revealed that
Voundou PHC finally began in 2008.
Activities making the official launching of
VBHC culminated the following day, February 18
with a Doctor's Support Visit from EBHC led by Dr.
Tchouada Alvine. According to our reporter, a total
of 41 patients were seen and 13 pregnant women
turned up for ANC. Our reporter further states that
VBHC has also achieved some of her goals for 2013
among which are the acquisition of a brand new
refrigerator, a centrifuge and above all, a KDE 7000
TS diesel generator.
CBCHS bids Farewell to
Outgoing Dental
Supervisor
Dr. Agbor Michael Ashu, erstwhile Dental
supervisor of the CBCHS ended his services with the
Board in December 2012. A farewell ceremony in his
honour took place on Saturday, February 23, 2013 at
Nkwen Baptist Health Center where he was based.
During the occasion, the Chief of Administration and
Finance (CAF), Mr. Warri Denis on behalf of the
Director of Health Services who was unavoidably
absent, awarded the outgoing CBCHS dental
supervisor with a certificate of recognition for his
meritorious services during his work period with the
CBCHS.
In his speech, the CAF referred to Dr.
Agbor Micheal as a friend, brother and colleague
who devoted himself and talent to ensure a smooth
The CAF, Mr. Warri Denis (left) handing over
certificate of recognition to Dr. Agbor
running and improvement of dental services in the
system. Taking a look at quality of dental services,
the DHS' representative remarked that Dr Agbor's
eight years of service was indeed fruitful. Mr. Warri,
therefore, charged Dr. Agbor not to relent but to keep
serving God and humankind especially in the good
aspects he has seen and learnt from the entire
CBCHS.
On her part, the chief of centre (COC) of
NBHC, Mrs. Ngong Nassah Emerence said Dr.
Agbor had been of great encouragement to her ever
since she took over as COC. Considering his selfless
services, the COC expressed the readiness to still
welcome Dr. Agbor should he decide to come back.
The NBHC choir graced the occasion with heart
touching songs of encouragement, love and serenity,
which Dr. Agbor responded with tears of joy.
Also present at the occasion were the
CBCHS Personnel Manager, Mr Ndosak George, the
Coordinator of the Chosen Children Programme,
Pastor Bambo Denis and the staff of NBHC. It
should be noted that Dr. Agbor is replaced by Dr.
Njimogu Samuel as dentist of NBHC.

The Health Board Chronicle
Nkwen Baptist Health
Center Installs
Automatic
Heamatology Analyzer
Nkwen Baptist Health Centre (NBHC) has an
automatic heamatology analyzer (clinical
diagnostic machine for blood specimen). The
machine was installed in the health centre
laboratory on January 25, 2013 by CBCHS lab
scientists, Mr. Buri Donald and Mr. Gwagsi
Everett. CBCHS Press reporter in Nkwen, Ndzi
Julius says the machine is capable of doing full
blood count and issue the result in just a minute. The
laboratory staff were drilled on the proper usage and
Mr. Gwagsi installing the AHA machine
management. The head of lab department, Mrs.
Gwei Heroline expressed satisfaction and remarked
that patients are going to be served faster and with
more accurate results due to the sophisticated nature
of the machine.
Reports say the machine comes to
reinforce an ultra-sophisticated microscope; CH31
which is also rated one of the best in CBCHS. The
microscope is noted for remarkable speed, clarity
and well defined image quality when viewing lab
specimen. The HOD equally noted the ultra
sophisticated microscope will further minimize
patients' waiting time.
HMIS Workshop holds
in Mutengene
Some 34 participants have been updated on medical
records keeping in CBCHS hospitals and health
centres. The enhancement took place during two
days Health Management Information System
(HMIS) Workshop at HSC Mutengene from
January 18-19, 2013. According to CBCHS Press
reporter at HSC, Mrs. Ngum Lauretta, the HMIS
Workshop aimed at discussing the successes and
challenges of the department in 2012 and chart a
way forward.
Declaring the workshop open, the HSC
Assistant Administrator, Mrs. Fai Bridget urged the
participants to take the lessons serious. She said
they would be rendering services unto the Lord
happily when they do their work well.
The main facilitators at the workshop
included the HMIS programme manager, Mr.
Nshom Emmanuel and Mr. Keng Vitalis who laid
more emphasis on medical record reporting
indicators to ensure understanding. Participants
were equally expected to know the source of the
information and how to compile the statistics
especially for those coming in new in the
department. Some new indicators were added in the
medical records reporting form as well as the
categorization for nurses such as, NP/BSN/RSN,
Brevete/APNA, and Nurse Assistant etc. They
resolved that these inclusions will take effect in
2013.
Staff of
Bangolan/Kouhouat
Baptist Health Centres
obey the “GO
COMMAND”
Staff members of both Bangolan and Kouhouat
Baptist Health centres in obedience to the Great
Commission, which is enshrined in the CBCHS'
Mission Statement, have undertaken an evangelistic
outreach to Finkwi. The enlarged team was led by the
Chiefs of Centre (COCs) of both institutions namely:
Mr. Yham Noah for Bangolan and Mr. Kelese
Godlove for Kouhouat. The massively attended
outreach hosted by staff of Finkwi Baptist Health
Centre held on February 17, 2013 at the premises of
Salem CBC Church Finkwi.
Welcoming the brethren on behalf of the
church pastor, Ps. Ndosak Emmanuel appreciated the
staff of Bangolan and Kouhouat for following Jesus'
example by defying the odds of the journey to come
and share the Gospel with their brothers. The COC of
the host health centre, Mr. Kolem Emmanuel, called
on the staff present to view work as ministry. He seized
the occasion to spur the nurses to work hard to uphold
the nursing standard, which he said has dropped in the
past years. Every nurse, according to him, should
strive to know his or her role on the field and ponder
within themselves whether they are building or
destroying what has been acquired through decades of
hard labour.
Reports from our Finkwi based
correspondent, Funsah Amos, say the outreach also
served as a forum for the three health centers to
interact with one another and to get to know one
another on a personal and deeper basis. The staff of
Bangolan BHC presented educative sketches on the
effects of materialism on Christian marriages during
the outreach. The sketches reminded parents of their
responsibility to encourage their children to undertake
essential medical checkups before marriages.
No segment of the community was left out
as Mrs. Nditapah Ruth of Bangolan BHC took time to
drill children on how to use pictures to share the
Gospel with their peers. The delegation from the two
health centers also took advantage of the opportunity
to present symbolic gifts to Salem Baptist Church and
Finkwi BHC respectively.
Earlier, in a devotional from Romans 12:1-
2, Chaplain Mbuh Julius urged staff of the various
health centers present to commit themselves as living
sacrifices, holy and pleasing in their service to the
Lord. He cautioned them as true servants of the Lord
not to conform to the worldly patterns that surround
them, but to be transformed by renewing their minds,
so that they can be agents of positive change in their
respective communities.
The day culminated in a football match that
ended in a one all tie between the visitors and the host.
The event ended successfully with staff from the
various health centers expressing the wish to extend
the evangelistic spirit to more centers.
Finkwi Baptist Health
Centre
Finkwi BHC is gradually putting on a new look,
thanks to funds from the Fund Holder Scheme, also
known as Performance Based Financing.
Performance Based Financing (PBF) is a World Bank
initiative aimed at promoting quality services by
remunerating highly performant health institutions.
According to our Finkwi based correspondent, funds
from this Program are being used to improve the
Page 12
Volume 3, No. 44
working environment of the facility.
As fallout of the PBF funds, Finkwi BHC
has also been able to purchase a consignment of
Mackintosh mattresses for use by clients admitted in
the health centre. The high quality mattresses were
presented to the staff body during the morning
devotions of February 10, 2013. Reports say other
necessary medical equipments are gradually being
sourced and bought for improvement of quality care
to clients.
CBCHS Visitors
1. Dr. Douglas Kerr, Orthopedic surgery, from USA,
to BHM.
2. Dr. Jennifer Jao & Family (4), IM, from USA, to
MBH.
3. Dr. Nagel Courtney, IM Resident, from USA, to
MBH.
4. Dr. Ellen Caitlin, IM Resident, from USA, to MBH.
5. Dr. Ann-Marie-Cade Moukal, GP, from USA, to
BHM.
6. Dr. Dwain Illman, GP, from USA, BHM.
7. Dr. Wayne Koch, ENT, from USA, to MBH.
8. Dr. Chan, ENT Resident, from USA, to MBH.
9. Dr. Alison Parden, Ob/Gyn Resident, from USA,
BBH.
Prayer Concerns
1. Thank God for CBCHS partner organizations such
as CBM, Bread for the World, NAB, BGC, EGPAF,
PEPFAR, CDC etc.
2. Pray that these partner organizations will find
favour with God because of their mission to minister
and reach poor communities via their funding,
personnel and prayers for the CBCHS.
3. Continue to pray for the French Development
Corporation that is opening up its doors to the
CBCHS to achieve the Strategy Nine Project
beginning 2013.
4. The land matter of Mboppi Baptist Hospital came
to an end when the CBCHS legally obtained the land
certificate and the judgement of the Supreme Court.
5. Thank God and pray against any new
developments that may hamper the smooth
functioning of services.
Prof. Tih Pius Muffih, MPH, PhD.
Director of Health Services.