Background The publication of the World Health Report of 2001 by the World Health Organization (WHO) raised awareness of mental health worldwide. It reported a higher burden of mental illnesses in developing countries, with fewer resources to address the conditions. Since then, many initiatives have been taken in Cameroon to improve the mental health of the population, but these efforts lack local scientific evidence to support them. This study aims to describe the mental health services available in the West Region of Cameroon and to provide evidence-based support to this process. Method We used the World Health Organization Assessment Instrument for Mental Health systems (WHO-AIMS) version 2.2 to collect, analyze, and report the data on mental health services offered in 2020 in the West Region of Cameroon. We extracted our data from the registers of 10 mental health facilities of the region, and we interviewed the staff in these facilities and at the Ministry of Public Health. Results The region is divided into 20 health districts, of which six offered mental health services. As a whole, Cameroon had a mental health policy, mental health plan, but no mental health legislation or emergency plan. There was no specific budget for mental health in the country. In the West Region there were not any psychiatrists. Mental health services were provided by nurses, psychologists, general practitioners, and neurologists. There were 1.87 human resources in mental health facilities per 100,000 population, of which 1.4 were nurses. 1 in 1.4 of these nurses worked in the main city. There was no formal link of mental health services with other sectors and no publication in the previous five years about mental health in the region referenced on PubMed. Conclusion In 2020, the access to mental health services in the West Region of Cameroon was inequitable. The approach to mental health system development was not inclusive and not supported by enough scientific evidence.
Background: Substance use is known to be more common among street children. Sometimes responsible for the runaway and repeated run-away behavior. To be able to reinsert these children, the reasons why there joined the streets, why they use substance and their pattern of substance use need to be understood.Methods: We conducted a descriptive cross-sectional study in February 2021 in the streets of Yaounde. We did a semi-structured interview of 159 street children using a sociodemographic questionnaire made of open questions and, the Alcohol, Smoking, and Substance Involvement Screening Test, version 3.0. The data were analyzed using R 4.1.0 for Windows.Results: All street children were male. The most common reason for joining the streets was, questing for money, reported by one-quarter of the children. Since their arrival in the streets, 60% of them ever used a substance, of which half used a substance because of peer pressure. The most commonly used substance was cannabis (36.48%), followed by Tobacco (35.85%). 14.47% and 11.32% were high risktobacco and cannabis users respectively. Conclusion: Substance use and risky substance use suggestive of substance use disorders are highly common among street children of Yaounde. This needs to be addressed to facilitate their reinsertion as shown in other studies. The mechanisms that lead to the absences of girls in the streets should also be explored to see if they can be applied to boys.
IntroductionAu Cameroun, on constate scepticisme et négligence des médecins à l'égard des patients atteints de troubles mentaux. Pour y apporter une solution, il fallait une appréciation objective. Les troubles dépressifs constituent la forme la plus répandue de troubles mentaux et Douala a le deuxième plus gros effectif de médecins généralistes du pays. Ainsi donc, nous nous sommes proposé d'évaluer les comportements des médecins généralistes de Douala face aux patients atteints de troubles dépressifs.MéthodesNous avons mené une étude descriptive transversale de février à juin 2017 en consultation externe de médecine générale. Pour chaque médecin généraliste inclus, nous faisions remplir à 3 (de ses) patients le «patient health questionnaire version-9» (PHQ-9) pour savoir si le patient était dépressif. Pendant chaque consultation, nous remplissions une fiche de renseignement clinique, pour savoir si le médecin généraliste avait diagnostiqué un trouble dépressif. Si oui, quelle prise en charge il avait adopté. Enfin, nous remettions au médecin généraliste un questionnaire pour connaitre ses difficultés face à la dépressionRésultatsNous avons obtenu une prévalence de 32,5% des troubles dépressifs en consultation de médecine générale dans la ville de Douala et un taux de diagnostic par les médecins généralistes de 1,92%. Les cas diagnostiqués ont juste reçu des conseils.ConclusionAu Cameroun, malgré le faible intérêt accordé aux troubles dépressifs, ils constituent un enjeu de santé publique de par sa fréquence et les effets de morbi-mortalité qu'ils peuvent imposer.
Background: In Cameroon, 23% of married women, 34% of sexually active single women have unmet needs for family planning and 58% of reproductive age women are not interested in family planning. This contributes to the high mother mortality rate, which is at 600 per 100.000 live births. In this study, we tried to identify the factors contributing to the current use of modern contraception by Cameroonian women so that they can be act on to meet the unmet need for modern contraception. Methods: The study uses data from 12,411 women aged from 15 to 49 years old included in the demographic health survey of Cameroon 2018/19. Bivariate, then multivariate logistic regression analysis were conducted on the study outcome of Modern versus non-modern contraception. Statistical significance was taken at p < 0.05.Results: We found out that 18% of the women in Cameroon use a modern contraception. The main determinants for this were; not working, increasing socioeconomic class, no more wanting children, wanting to delay the next childbirth by at least 2 years, and history of domestic violence. Conclusion: The above factors should be considered in the making of a national contraception improvement plan. Meanwhile, none working women being more likely to use a modern contraception should be considered with some reserve because this is a highly unexpected finding.
Background Substance use is known to be more common among street children. Sometimes responsible for the runaway and repeated run-away behavior. To be able to reinsert these children, the reasons why there joined the streets, why they use substance and their pattern of substance use need to be understood. Methods We conducted a descriptive cross-sectional mix method study in February 2021 in the streets of Yaounde. We did a semi-structured interview of 159 street children using a sociodemographic questionnaire made of open questions and, the Alcohol, Smoking, and Substance Involvement Screening Test, version 3.0. The data were analyzed using R 4.1.0 for Windows. Results All street children were male. The most common reason for joining the streets was, questing for money, reported by one-quarter of the children. 60% of them used a substance, of which half used a substance because of peer pressure. The most commonly used substance was cannabis (36.48%), followed by Tobacco (35.85%). 14.47% were dependent on tobacco and 11.32% on cannabis. Conclusion Substance use and substance use disorders are highly common among street children of Yaounde. This needs to be addressed to facilitate their reinsertion as shown in other studies. The mechanisms that lead to the absences of girls in the streets should also be explored to see if they can be applied to boys.
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