This is what emerges from a study conducted by the University Hospital Center (CHU) and the Gynecologic Obstetric and Pediatric Hospital of Yaoundé (HGOPY).
They are nearly 150,000 premature babies born each year in Cameroon, informs a study conducted at the University Hospital Center (CHU) and the Gynecological Obstetric and Pediatric Hospital of Yaoundé (HGOPY). Of these preterm births (between 28 and 37 weeks of amenorrhea), 26% of infants die. However, 15,000 premature infant deaths could be prevented each year if Cameroon's health system had the right equipment.
According to the daily Echosanté, the lack of a technical platform and the cost of caring for premature babies do not promote their care. The care necessary for the survival of a premature baby varies between 600,000 CFA francs and 1,000,000 CFA francs according to the Ministry of Public Health. Globally, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), prematurity is the leading cause of death among children under 5 years of age.
In addition to the inadequacy of the care structures, the study provides information on the glaring lack of incubators and when they are present in some hospital formations, there is a lack of electrical energy or oxygen. .
In Cameroon, nearly 90. 000 newborns are born each year with a weight of less than 2,500 g and before the theoretical term of 37 weeks. Of these, nearly 10,000 die from preventable causes and prematurity is the second leading cause of death before the age of five – according to WHO statistics, almost half of all deaths in children under one year of age are attributable to mortality of newborns aged 0 and 28 days.
