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Monday 14 March 2016

The Need To Educate The Akwaya Population On The Importance Of Antenatal Clinic (ANC)



By Ayamba Roseline
Tobby Vision Computers

        Akwaya Sub-Division is found in Manyu Division in the South west Region of Cameroon.
       Antenatal Clinic is a health department which provides care to the affairs of pregnant women in accordance to prevent preterm deliveries, Mother to child transmission of various diseases and the overall health of the pregnant women.

     The following reasons below explains the facts why this locality need awareness to the importance of Antenatal clinic.  The belief of Medical Pluralism in Akwaya, has led to the neglect of Antenatal Clinic as many women of different cultural or ethnic groups within the area, each adhering to its own Medical tradition. With this, the people choose to acquire treatment forgetting about the counter effect of African Traditional Medicine (ATM), which is of no measurement, diagnostic investigation and or laboratory test and duration of treatment thus leading to its negative effects.
   The lack of knowledge to the importance of ANC in this area has led to preterm deliveries and the eventual death of neonate leading to infants Motality.The absence of equipment such as incubators for premature babies in the district and health centers in this area is also a contributor to infant mortality rate. Also this has led to greater risk of feotal malformation at birth due to the inability for precautional measures which could have been taken into consideration before birth, leading to many disabled children in the northern part of Akwaya Sub-Division.
        Moreover, the advent of such beliefs in this area, most especially in the southern part of AKWAYA has created the chances of many traditional birth attendance using in hygienic methods of delivering and unsterilized ways of treating the umbilical cord infecting the babies with diseases such as tetanus, instead of these women seeing the needs of the midwives which they term costly and expensive. The failure to attend ANC, has led to the transmission of mother to child infection such as cervico-vagina infection which could have been prevented during pregnancy
         Not withstanding, leaving out the effect post on the neonatal mortality rate and the risk factor, the pregnant women are highly at risk as many of them lost their lives during delivery as a result of not knowing actual delivery period of delivery so as to be alert, if it is either through operation or monitoring at the pregnancy by a health personnel of physicians.
   Also, their failure to attend ANC in the acquisition of knowledge about child’s nutrition and health situation, has led to high malnutrition rate in the northern part of Akwaya, health disorder like kwashokor,beriberi and growth retardation in children.
     Stemming from the people’s view point, they are not far from the reason of such a practice. The few and limited health canters in the area and the distant in acquiring health facilities has contributed to the practice of medical pluralism in this area.
       How can there be discourage from such practices? The creation of health centers with modern equipment and employment of staff to this health care will help reduce such risk and practices, and improve on the general health situation of the population of this area. Also,the creation of roads in linking this areas to most towns of Cameroon will help create awareness and reduce stress and manipulation of the people by their neighboring Nigeria towns which serves as the easiest means of accessibility to most villages in Akwaya.
          By and large, the Government effort in the built up of social networking will also increase the knowledge of biomedical as the physician and health care givers will be able to communicate with colleagues about new skills and also seek the knowledge of telemedicine will help update their skills and improve the health condition of the people in this community.          




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