4 research outputs found

    Patterns of injury and violence in Yaoundé Cameroon: An analysis of hospital data

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    Background: Injuries are quickly becoming a leading cause of death globally, disproportionately affecting sub-Saharan Africa, where reports on the epidemiology of injuries are extremely limited. Reports on the patterns and frequency of injuries are available from Cameroon are also scarce. This study explores the patterns of trauma seen at the emergency ward of the busiest trauma center in Cameroon\u27s capital city. Materials and methods: Administrative records from January 1, 2007, through December 31, 2007, were retrospectively reviewed; information on age, gender, mechanism of injury, and outcome was abstracted for all trauma patients presenting to the emergency ward. Univariate analysis was performed to assess patterns of injuries in terms of mechanism, date, age, and gender. Bivariate analysis was used to explore potential relationships between demographic variables and mechanism of injury. Results: A total of 6,234 injured people were seen at the Central Hospital of Yaoundé\u27s emergency ward during the year 2007. Males comprised 71% of those injured, and the mean age of injured patients was 29 years (SD = 14.9). Nearly 60% of the injuries were due to road traffic accidents, 46% of which involved a pedestrian. Intentional injuries were the second most common mechanism of injury (22.5%), 55% of which involved unarmed assault. Patients injured in falls were more likely to be admitted to the hospital (p \u3c 0.001), whereas patients suffering intentional injuries and bites were less likely to be hospitalized (p \u3c 0.001). Males were significantly more likely to be admitted than females (p \u3c 0.001) Discussion: Patterns in terms of age, gender, and mechanism of injury are similar to reports from other countries from the same geographic region, but the magnitude of cases reported is high for a single institution in an African city the size of Yaoundé. As the burden of disease is predicted to increase dramatically in sub-Saharan Africa, immediate efforts in prevention and treatment in Cameroon are strongly warranted. © 2010 Société Internationale de Chirurgie

    Health Security Planning: Developing the Cameroon National Action Plan for Health Security

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    The health security planning process transforms recommendations from various evaluations into priority actions tostrengthen countries’ capacity for emergency preparedness using the One Health approach. Although the World HealthOrganization (WHO) has developed many tools to facilitate the planning process of a National Action Plan for HealthSecurity (NAPHS) across the various components, a series of multisectoral workshops is still needed to complete theprocess. In this article, we report on the process of developing Cameroon’s NAPHS and propose an innovative solutionto improve the process. The NAPHS development process was conducted from May to December 2018. The WHONAPHS framework, adapted to the local context, guided the process. The WHO planning matrix was used to planactivities and the WHO NAPHS costing tool was used to facilitate the costing exercise. A total of 84 Joint ExternalEvaluation recommendations were translated into activities included in Cameroon’s NAPHS. Among these activities, themajority (56%) were of medium priority. The total cost of a 5-year NAPHS was US$87,668,356, with almost half(49%) of the budget allocated to activities in the ‘‘Prevent’’ category and more than a third (35%) allocated to the‘‘Detect’’ category. The top 3 cost drivers were immunization (22%), the national laboratory system (21%), andantimicrobial resistance (16%). The NAPHS informed policymakers of planned activities and funding needs to fast-trackthe development of health security capacities. Running gaps in funding will be addressed during a resource mappingexercise. To improve the overall planning process, a web-based support solution, where stakeholders select from a menuof recommendations from the Joint External Evaluation to develop a NAPHS, should be developed to improve theNAPHS development process.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishe
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