For International Women’s Day, we offered a six-week program of free cervical and breast cancer screenings.

Breast and cervical cancers are the most common types of cancer among women and the leading causes of cancer-related deaths in Cameroon. Most women have never even heard of cervical cancer, which can be prevented almost 100% with early detection.

Sadly, most women in underserved communities can’t afford a Pap smear or a mammogram. We screened 219 women and also taught them simple breast self-examination techniques for early detection of abnormalities. 

We extended our program of free screenings and health education by two weeks because the more women you diagnose early, the more lives you can save.

Her mother was pregnant when she was forced to flee her home.

We GIVE free prenatal and birthing care to pregnant IDP and underprivileged women.

Since 2016, killings, sexual violence, kidnapping, house-burning and hospital attacks in Cameroon’s SW and NW Regions have left over 2.3 million Internally Displaced People (IDP) urgently in need of food, shelter, and protection. 600,000 of them have fled to the coastal Littoral Region of West Cameroon, where the women who are pregnant live in very precarious conditions with no access to healthcare.

In January 2020, Unite for Health started reaching out to them with the offer of free prenatal medical care and free supervised births in our micro-clinics. Since then, thanks to your generous donations, we have monitored over 60 pregnant women, and supervised 29 safe deliveries, including Celine, whose baby girl is pictured above.

We have also delivered 25 healthy babies to underprivileged women who did not have the means to pay for our medical services.

We continue to reach out to these women because we believe when we empower them, we empower an entire generation. Please help us help more women like Celine, innocent victims of political strife forced to grapple with displacement and motherhood at the same time.

$10 pays for 1 prenatal ultrasound.

$100 pays 1 delivery fee.

Free Sunday Screenings after church.

Our latest outreach program took place at Presbyterian Church Ntaghem on a Sunday morning. Our outreach team arrived early to screen people for high blood pressure, high blood sugar and to measure their BMI.

High levels are dangerous for pregnant woman, and others who are at risk for diabetes, hypertension and obesity. If left undiagnosed, these noncommunicable diseases are Covid-19 comorbidities and pose a serious threat to cardiovascular health.

The NUMBERS.

The data showed a high number of at-risk patients who were given diet and lifestyle advice, and advised to follow up for further evaluation at our micro-clinic.

In response to Covid-19, we launched the first operational telemedicine program in Cameroon.

Our innovative program began in June 2020 and was recognized in the media. The charts below show data collected between June 15 and Sept 13, 2020 for three micro-clinics. Call volume increased by over 300% in the second 6-week period.

The story these numbers tell about the public health crisis beyond the Covid-19 pandemic is crystal clear.

Infectious disease prevention programs in the age of Covid-19.

As a major part of our mission to improve lives, we’ve been educating people on disease prevention ever since the organization was founded in 2007.

We distribute masks and bars of soap, free.

Unite for Health’s programs to give away masks and soap to help slow the spread of Covid-19 have been well received in the community.

We have programs to distribute large plastic water buckets and since Covid, we offer free hand washing and education at our micro-clinics. See below.

There are many other serious health problems throughout Africa including H.I.V., malaria and typhoid caused by contaminated food or water. We teach people about food safety and clean water with an emphasis on the basic rules of hygiene like hand washing with soap.

Covid-19 and its high infection rate is an added alarming factor as we continue to teach people how simple everyday precautions can save them from getting sick and in many cases, save lives.

We are proud of our impact.

Community health photo by Shutterstock.

Vaccination photo by iStock.