The Archdiocesan Health Coordination Office

The Archdiocesan Health Coordination Office

 

This service was created on 31 October, 1999. There is an Archdiocesan Health Coordinator and a Medical Doctor who consults in the outreach health centres. The Archdiocesan Health Centres are directly the responsibility of the Coordination Office and are visited monthly for Doctor’s consultation and more often when deemed necessary. Staff meetings of the Health Coordinating team are held monthly. Supervision of 24 Health Facilities in the Archdiocese is carried out twice yearly. The purpose of supervision to the Health Facilities is to ensure the proper management, organisation and functioning of the facilities to ensure that quality care is given to patients at all times, to ensure that Health Centres have adequate supplies and equipment and are structurally adequate for the services being offered, to see to it that Health Centres have clean water, good environmental sanitation and hygiene, to ensure that Health Centres are adequately staffed in accordance with the needs of the location and target population.

In the Archdiocese of Bamenda, Maternal and Child Health is improved, the incidents of preventable communicable diseases, especially HIV/AIDS and malaria are drastically reduced. Expansion of Health Care facilities in the Archdiocese by building new structures or enlarging present structures according to demand from the local population has taken place within the last nine years. Quality health care is administered to patients both physically and spiritually in all Health facilities of the Archdiocese of Bamenda. The Spiritual welfare of staff and patients is considered a priority for persons in charge of Centres.

 

The Archdiocesan Health Coordination Office carries out the following activities:

1. Scheduling of meetings with Heads of Health Facilities every 3 months for the implementation of the strategic plan for Health Care in the Archdiocese and the promotion of Primary Health Care, as the desired model of Health.
2. Organisation of a system for bulk purchasing of drugs storage and distribution of same. Monitoring of usage of essential drugs, and financing of same on a cost recovery basis in the Health institutions in the Archdiocese of Bamenda.
3. Promotion of Health Committees is encouraged for easy communication between the Health facility and the local population.
4. The implementation of the Pastoral Plan regarding health in the Archdiocese through the formation of Health Commissions.
5. Meetings are scheduled twice yearly with 4 Health Coordinators of the Ecclesiastical Province of Bamenda for reporting purposes and improvement of health services in the Province.
6. Scheduled meetings with Bamenda Ecclesiastical Province Health Assistance (BEPHA) management.
7. Monthly meetings with the person in charge of Catholic Health Services and Medicines for Humanity support services in the Archdiocese.
8. Archdiocesan Health Council meets twice yearly.
9. Administration management seminars are organized on request.
10. Availing of short courses like obstetric emergencies HIV/AIDS counselling training.
11. In-service training to update long serving nursing staff.
12. Archdiocesan Health Education seminars are held quarterly in order to update staff of all health facilities.
13. HIV/AIDS Education and Counseling training is organised with the relevant teams. The HIV/AIDS Education is given in the form of “Behaviour Change” seminars and is carried out in some Parishes of the Archdiocese. The Lay Counselling Training programme takes place over three days per month for 7 months. The purpose of the training is to train people to accompany people who are HIV+ or are terminally ill from AIDS or any terminal disease.

During the period under review, the following successes have been achieved:

1. There is a marked improvement in quality health care given to patients in the Archdiocese Health Centres, and this is due to the part-time services of a Medical Doctor on the coordinating team of the Archdiocese.
2. There is an improvement in Primary Health Education in villages.
3. There is a marked reduction in instances of HIV infection.
4. There has been proper follow up of patients of the Corona Virus.
5. Creation of a Health Facility, Our Lady of Fatima Health Centre at Station, Bamenda.

 

However, we are still faced with the following challenges:

1. Encouraging nursing staff commitment to patient care and spiritual welfare.
2. Implementation of Strategic Plan for Health in the Archdiocese of Bamenda.
3. Establishment of Primary Health Care in all areas where our Health Facilities are situated.

 

We have the following vision for the future:

1. That our Health Facilities in the Archdiocese be places of physical and spiritual healing for patients.
2. To employ a surgent for St. Blaise Hospital which is our main Health facility in the Archdiocese.
3. The addition of modern structures in St. Blaise Hospital.
4. The construction of a Health Centre In Bayelle Parish.
5. That the drug supply unit be expanded so that it can efficiently serve the needs of the health facilities in the Archdiocese.

 

6. The Bamenda Ecclesiastical Province Health Assistance (BEPHA)

 

The Bamenda Ecclesiastical Province Health Assistance (BEPHA) scheme was effectively started in 2007 in order to make health care more accessible and more affordable. It is a mutual health insurance scheme initiated by the Bishops of the Ecclesiastical Province of Bamenda as their contribution towards the alleviation of misery in our communities, with specific reference to the domain of health. It is based on the principle of solidarity in order to help the poorer members of the community who cannot afford to pay their health bills or have quality health care because of the worsening financial situation. BEPHA has the following objectives:

1. To assist people to have access to quality health care.
2. To encourage people to pre-save for their health and that of their family members and other relations.
3. To encourage people to seek early medical attention in order to safeguard against aggravated health conditions.
4. To check inflated health bills and avoid exploitation of patients.
5. To help relief families from straining financially on health problems and, thus, exhausting the family income meant for feeding, education, etc. on their sick ones.

 

BEPHA is open to all without distinction of race or creed. Ordinary members register in groups of, at least, four people with a registration fee of one thousand (1.000) francs CFA, and each member pays an annual premium of four thousand francs. When a member falls sick, seventy-five per cent (75%) of the hospital bill is paid by BEPHA and the member pays only twenty-five per cent (25%). The person must be treated in a health centre or hospital which has been accredited as a Provider by signing a contract with BEPHA. Attached to the scheme is a Medical Adviser who scrutinizes and approves the bills. The establishment of the scheme has been supported by MISEREOR, the German Bishops’ Conference Commission for the Fight against Hunger and Sickness, which has sponsored our technical advisers.

 

Each Diocese of the Province has a Coordinator, a Manager and a Medical Adviser. At the level of the Province, there is a Coordinator and a Medical Adviser. The Provincial Coordination Office is in Bamenda.

 

In recent years, the aid from MISEREOR has been stopped. Hence, the scheme has to fend for itself, and that is a great difficulty at hand, given that, as it currently stands, the scheme cannot sustain itself.