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.
