The Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudia Arabia, Mahmoud Bin Hussein Quattan was on September 19, bearer of a goodwill message from his country to Cameroon. By 2:15 pm at the Nsimalen-Yaounde International Airport, the attention of everyone, especially officials of the Ministry of Public Health and staff of the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Cameroon, accompanied by the Ambassador, focussed on the skies where a cargo plane was expected. The Saudi Arabian HZ-129 Boeing aircraft arrived with eight tonnes of medication. Accompanying the aid package was a strong delegation led by a representative of the Saudi Arabian Minister of Public Health, Souleyman Shourei.
After appending their signatures to a document to acknowledge the receipt of the gifts, Mahmoud Bin Hussein Quattan explained that the assistance was aimed at supporting the country take a leap in the fight against the spread of cholera. The eight tonnes of medication, the Ambassador said, were part of Saudi Arabia’s assistance to Cameroon and other African countries. The gifts are for 5,000 cholera patients.
The Minister of Public Health, André Mama Fouda, described the medication as another gesture to help the country get out of the epidemic that is reported to have affected 16,000 people this year. “The gesture is in appreciation of the measures so far taken by government to keep the outbreak at bay and eventually eradicate it,” the Minister explained. “I will like to express the gratitude of government to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for the gifts,” he said.
The Minister decried the persistence of the disease in spite of measures put in place, saying this was due to the non-observance, by some Cameroonians in vulnerable areas, of basic hygiene and sanitation. This notwithstanding, André Mama Fouda said a glimmer of hope was in the horizon and Cameroon will soon be free of cholera. The number of deaths has dropped from six per cent of those affected last year to three per cent this year; proof that government and partners have not relented in their efforts, he said.
