The General Director of Doctors Without Borders (DWB) has expressed disappointment on the prolong suspension of their activities from conflict-hit North West region where humanitarian and health needs of civilian populations remains critical.
Stephen Cornish, head of a high-level DWB delegation made the revelations in a release he issued recently. The delegation just ended a three week stay in Cameroon aimed at reviewing their framework operations in the NW after it was suspended by Governor Adolphe Lele L’Afrique 8 December 2020.
“While our visit to Cameroon was an opportunity to address key points, no agreement was unfortunately reached to immediately restart our life-saving medical services in the North West region. This is disappointing, but we remain hopeful that the lifting of our suspension can be reached in the coming days,” partly read the release from the senior DWB official, who, however sounded optimistic.
“Discussions will go on as all stakeholders understand that our operations cannot remain on hold indefinitely. Every extra day of suspension is another day that we cannot assist the population in dire need of health care services,” Cornish said, adding, that an agreement will “undeniably change the situation for the better in the provision of essential care in the North-West”.
Cornish expressed confidence that such agreement is still attainable and will allow us them to provide essential medical services in the region just as it is done elsewhere in the country. In interview granted The Median 19 May 2021, the DWB official admitted that they may have made some errors in the NW before their suspension but dispelled allegations of the organization’s collaboration with members of non-state armed groups and blamed it on miscommunication between them and local authorities.
The DWB delegation has had talks with the ministers of Public Health, Territorial Administration, Defense, and External Relations and others on possible ways to review their framework and get their activities back on board. DWB has been working in Cameroon since 1984. The international medical NGO runs medical humanitarian projects in the Far North and in the South-West regions of the country pending resumption in the NW.
By Doh Bertrand Nua
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