Where we work :: Cameroon

 

Population: 16.3 million
Life expectancy: 50 yrs male / 51 yrs female
Dentists per 100,000 population: 1(1996)
DMFT (Decayed, Missing, Filled Teeth) Score: 1.5 Notes: Conditions for Cameroon’s children have deteriorated in recent years. Infant and under-five mortality rates in 2005 were actually higher than their 1990 levels. Maternal mortality is alarmingly high. Malaria accounts for more than 40 per cent of all deaths among children under age five, yet less than 1 per cent of children sleep under insecticide-treated nets.  The educational system is hampered by a shortage of qualified teachers. Many schools lack water and sanitation.  Cameroon is a transit country for child trafficking.
UNICEF 2007

Projects

Cameroon Schools Oral Health Programme - 2008 - 2009

Following on from the success of the initial pilot schools oral health programme in Uganda Dentaid seeks to replicate a similar scheme in Cameroon.

The aim of the programme is to educate children in oral health care with the end goal of combating poor oral health care in the schools and ultimately in the general population.

Dentaid has been fortunate in receiving sponsorship from the Lions to meet the start up costs of this project. See more about this project in Get Involved > Sponsorship > Schools Programmes.

Centre de Sante Nicolas Barre 2008

Dentaid provided a fully refurbished dental surgery unit as part of the Nicolas Barre Health Centre which  offers a holistic health service to the impoverished population of the Ekounou area of Yaounde. The centre offers care particularly to pregnant women and new mothers and babies.  

Cameroon Baptist Convention Health Board - 2006 & 2007  10 complete surgeries, engineer training and oral health promotion and training. 

In May 2007 Director of Oral health Robert Yee visited The Cameroon working with the Baptist Convention Health Board training 15 dentists and dental therapists in infection control and ART. During his time there he met with dental instructors, toothpaste manufacturers and assessed the feasibility of implementing toothbrushing programmes in the local schools.  He also went on local radio to promote the benefits of good oral health.

In December 2006 Dentaid sent 10 surgeries to health centres across the Cameroon.  In February 2007 Dentaid engineers Richard and Dave did training in The Cameroon and fourteen Cameroonian hospital technicians successfully completed a Dentaid training programme on the servicing and maintenance of dental equipment, ensuring the ten donated dental surgeries will continue to serve thousands of needy patients for years to come.  The technicians, who work at the numerous CBCHB health centres and hospitals around Cameroon, approached the comprehensive training programme on the installation, maintenance and repair of the various elements of a dental surgery with great enthusiasm.  Twenty-five dental assistants and five dentists were also trained in the use and maintenance of the equipment, including vital sterilisation processes. 

Regina Pacis Health Centre - November 2002 
Recieved one complete dental surgery, two instrument sets and additional laboratory equipment. The funding was raised by Dentaid and Wimborne Lions Club.

Banso Baptist Hospital - November 2002
Supplied with one complete dental surgery and instrument set. In April 2002 Frank Russell ran the Saharan Marathon; 140 miles across the African desert in 7 days carrying his food and sleeping in blanket tents. Frank is the founder of charity C.A.D.R.E. (Centre for African Development, Research Education). The sponsorship raised enabled Dentaid to send a fully equipped dental surgery out to the Banso Baptist Hospital in the NW Province of Cameroon. Two million people who live in the area now have access to dental health care at the Banso Hospital.