In the wake of the corona virus, and its negative impacts, Cameroon is one of the top African countries with cases rising daily, recording 98 cases in less than one week. In less than 3 weeks, these rose to 509 cases. The WHO declared COVID-19 March 11, 2020 and by April 3, there were over 1 million cases worldwide and more than 50,000 deaths recorded.
COVID- 19, identified by Chinese researchers in Wuhan, China, is thought to be transmitted by droplet infection, which could be contracted directly when a person sneezes, coughs or talks, or indirectly by a person touching an infected surface and then touching his or her eyes, nose, or mouth.
The capacity for low- and middle-income countries to survive a hard hit from the virus is low due to low capacity and expertise in the health systems. Innovative measures must be taken to support communities to stay safe and prevent the spread and its consequences.
Prevention is key to breaking the chain of transmission, however, local population needs to be well educated that there is a new virus, what it is all about, how it is transmitted, how it can be prevented, early diagnosis and how it can be managed in case one is confirmed positive, else, the health systems will ultimately crash with cases flowing into the overburdened and limited capacity facilities. This education is currently being widely done in official languages such as English and French. This partly accounts for the little observation of preventive measures. Hence, RADA’s Education program has prioritized education in the widely spoken Pidgin English to educate the population on preventive measures. Subscribe to our newsletter to receive updates on our work on COVID-19 and or Contact Us for more information.