Campaign enlists volunteers, Bank, NGOs, private sector.
Goal is to unite civil society across country.
IFC and partners mobilizing up to US$1 billion in fight.
Yaoundé, Cameroon, April 24, 2008 – “A Cameroon where no one is stricken by or dies of malaria because of the lack of access to education, the lack of preventive measures, or the unavailability of treatment.”
Such is the vision of the Cameroon Coalition Against Malaria (CCAM). In its one year of existence, and despite very limited human, logistical, and financial resources, this Cameroonian NGO has achieved concrete results that are already being emulated.
The Coalition’s ambition began to bear fruit thanks to a unified group of individuals and legal entities, acting as volunteers, who hope one day to eradicate malaria.
A Clear Roadmap
CCAM, which began operations in January 2007, is already active in the country’s ten provinces. The NGO aims to:
Educate the public on malaria prevention and effective treatment options;
Strengthen the capacity of civil society and its partners to obtain political support and thereby increase the allocation of resources to combat malaria;
Build civil society’s capacity to combat malaria in Cameroon by creating more solid linkages for a coordinated advocacy and resource mobilization strategy;
Increase media coverage and public discussion on malaria; and
Unite civil society as a whole at the national level by utilizing technical approaches and supporting anti-malaria activists.
Meeting on how to use insecticide-treated mosquito nets.
“At first, CCAM’s initiative seemed so ambitious that I paid only scant attention to it (…) but when I saw how the insecticide-treated mosquito nets provided by the NGOs saved the lives of newborn babies in the North West Province, I decided to contribute to this exciting venture,” said Boniface, a CCAM volunteer. Five volunteer thematic groups worked regularly in the various areas to combat the disease: marketing and communication, public health and biological sciences, statistics and epidemiology, policy and implementation, and development and resource mobilization.
The results were not long in coming. In a very short period, CCAM launched a series of activities. Among other things, the group published a malaria practical guide, which will sensitize more and more people on malaria prevention and treatment. It also established CAMAM (Cameroon Media against Malaria), organized a conference where research scientists presented their work on malaria, and mobilized international organizations, including UNICEF and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to provide more funds and to build up a stronger and united advocacy coalition against malaria in Cameroon.
Some CCAM Activities in 2007
Establishment and functioning of volunteer thematic working groups;
Establishment of linkages with stakeholders aimed at combating malaria;
Coalition of 44 institutional members, including the United Nation’s Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the Reconstruction Credit Institute [ Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau KfW], the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and the German Agency for Technical Cooperation [Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit GTZ;
Publication of a malaria manual;
Establishment of Cameroon Media Against Malaria (CAMAM) ;
Appointment of two famous artistes as CCAM Ambassadors to combat malaria (Grace Decca and Ottou Marcelin);
Advocacy around Africa Malaria Day;
Organization of a scientific conference where researchers presented their work on malaria;
Holding of regular meetings of the Malaria Press Club;
Establishment of a Public Information Centre; and
Organization of a variety of training programs.
To date, the group has helped thousands of people, distributed more than 10,000 bed nets provided by UNICEF, and has supervised the training of community relays in each of the provinces of Cameroon. CCAM also contributed in writing the malaria component of the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. The NGO contribution was focused on promoting the use of malaria competence approach, an advocacy tool which fosters community participation and ownership in the fight against malaria.
World Bank’s Support Is Key
On April 14, 2008, a forum on private sector financing of health insurance in Africa, jointly organized by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-sector arm of the World Bank Group, and the World Bank, was held in Yaoundé.
To assist Africa in facing its health challenges, the IFC and its partners plan to mobilize up to US$1 billion in consulting services and investments over the next five years.
“The private sector is already playing a major role in Africa, even though there is still room for improvement,” said Miriam Schneidman, a Senior Health Specialist at the World Bank.
The IFC strategy in particular aims to:
Create an equity investment instrument;
Partner with local financial institutions;
Provide consulting services to build capacity;
Develop the IFC's activities related to the life sciences sector in the region;
Promote ongoing training for health professionals;
Encourage the establishment of health insurance companies; and
Provide a more favorable environment for private sector expansion.
Moreover, a Cameroon Health Sector Investment Support Project is also being developed by the World Bank, with the focus on malaria, HIV/AIDS, and tuberculosis, among others. The project will assist Cameroon to achieve better health and nutrition outcomes towards accelerated and sustained economic growth and poverty reduction. The Bank has a window of opportunity to collaborate with other development partners and NGOs like CCAM to get Cameroon back on track towards reaching the health and nutrition Millennium Development Goals for 2015. The project will contribute to three of the main Poverty Reduction Strategy pillars: strengthening human resources and bolstering social services; using the private sector as a partner in social services delivery; and improving governance.
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