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The health check makes its mark on pregnant women in the northern regions of Cameroon. According to the figures presented during the biannual interregional coordination meeting for this project held in Ngaoundéré from February 7 to 9, 2022, the health facilities (FOSA) of 42 of the 55 health districts (DS) in this part of the country have been reached. That is a penetration rate of around 77%. In detail, this pre-financing mechanism at 6,000 FCFA for prenatal consultations (CPN), safe delivery and post-natal follow-up up to 42 days acquires the support of 67% of FOSA in Adamaoua, 63 % in the Far North and 70% in the North. For a pregnancy coverage rate of 62% in Adamaoua, 57% in the Far North and 51% in the North. For a maternal and neonatal mortality rate of 0.87%, 1.32% and 1.33% respectively. During these meetings, the Cameroonian government, represented by the Ministry of Public Health and the partners expressed their satisfaction with the results obtained more than six years after the launch of the health check project in the Far North.
Reverse
However, not everything was given from the start. When in May 2014, the health check project was launched in the three northern regions of Cameroon, the presentation document of the national multisector program to combat maternal, neonatal and infant-child mortality 2014-2020 (created on November 11, 2013 by decree of the Prime Minister, editor’s note) has no figures by region on the maternal mortality rate as indicated by the table of regional disparities in maternal health indicators of the national reproductive, maternal, neonatal and child health program (Pnsrmni) of 2014 to 2020. At most, we note in this table, which shows the figures of the demographic health survey (DHS) of 2011, that in Cameroon in general, in 2011, for 100,000 live births, 782 women against 430 in 1998 to 669 in 2004. Moreover, according to the same source, out of 1,000 newborns, 38 (3rd national rank) die in the Far North, 35 in the North (4th) and 41 in the Adamaoua (2nd behind the Southwest with 44 deaths). For an overall average of 31 deaths per 1,000 live births in Cameroon. Finally, still according to the 2011 DHS, the Far North, with a score of 28, and the North (26) presented a “very high risk of maternal and neonatal death” while it was “high” in the ‘Adamaoua (20).
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To reverse the trend, the document mentioned above was drawn up to “reduce maternal deaths by 29%, ie from 782 to 557 per 100,000 live births; […] neonatal deaths by 23%, i.e. from 31 to 24 per 1,000 live births by 2020 in Cameroon”. One of its specific objectives is to “ensure that at least 80% of women of childbearing age, pregnant women and children aged 0 to 5 have access to quality services and continuous care”. Hence the idea of “subsidizing the care of mothers and newborns through the “Health check” project”.
Extension
As a reminder, the Cameroonian government considers the health check, or “voucher”, as “a step in the process of implementing Universal Health Coverage (UHC)”. The only particularity is that its field of application is limited only to “the reduction of neonatal and maternal mortality through the improvement of the care of pregnant women”. The Ministry of Public Procurement (Minmap) and that of Public Health (Minsanté) represent the Cameroonian government, which receives financial support from the French Development Agency (AFD) and the German Development Bank (KfW). According to an article published on April 6, 2020 on the website of Fintalk Mag, a webmagazine for professionals and non-professionals of finance in Africa, 312 million FCFA were necessary for the implementation of the first phase ( 2014-2017) of this project. The same source indicates that “according to official figures, nearly 3,000 checks were sold between June 23, 2015 and December 31, 2017”. Fintalk Mag also reveals that “according to the Cameroonian authorities, 44,209 prenatal consultations, 10,000 ultrasounds, 18,221 deliveries, 910 caesareans, for just over 10,000 people sensitized”. These encouraging results make it possible to consider extending the project to the eastern and southern regions.
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