Elizabeth Mosima
2 October 2007
Nerve problems are a major health issue in Cameroon. The treatment is too costly. Apart from the fact that most people are not aware of the treatment, many do not know the different types of nerve diseases.
It is for this reason that an African neurology week opened in Yaounde yesterday. The week is organised by the Cameroon Neurologists Society (CNS) in collaboration with the Ministry of Public Health. The event brings together neurologists from all over the continent.
The African Neurologists Week is in prelude to an international workshop on neurosurgery which kicks-off today. The workshop is organised by the World Federation of Neurosurgeons. For four days, the participants will receive lectures from experts from the World Federation of Neurologists to reinforce their capacities and also exchange experiences. Some of the topics to be discussed during the week include: malformations, infectious diseases, adult pathology, various types of surgeries and their treatments.
According the President of the Cameroon Neurosurgical Society, Dr Eloundou Ngah, the Yaounde congress is to explain to the society what is neurosurgery, its functions and also to enable the World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies to take stock of the realities of the doctors in Africa and to improve relations between the African society and the international associations so that, in future, neurosurgery will be carried out easily in Africa. According to him, the expectations are that public can have access to consultations on all the problems of neurology and can eventually have access to treatment. He explained that the effects of nerves diseases are many and varied. Some people have heameplegia; people who cannot walk; and people who lose urine because of the compression of the nerves.
According to Dr Eloundou Ngah, nerve problems are a common disease in Cameroon and are multifaceted. As a result people always go to consult traditional practitioners who cannot solve the problem. To him people should instead go to the hospital. He said it is the wish of the Cameroon Neurology Society (CNS) that the public should be informed on the problems of neurology in order for them to have access to consultations on the problems of neurology and to have access to treatment. At the end of the sensitisation week, an Association of Neurological Surgeons of Africa is expected to be created. Activities end on Thursday.
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