Some health facilities in Cameroon are turning to telemedicine as patients have been keeping away from and fleeing medical facilities for fear of contracting the coronavirus Covid-19, which has so far killed 313 people in the country.

Early this month, Dr Manaouda Malachie, Cameroon’s minister of Public Health, said patients have fled health facilities following the daily spike in the number of Covid-19 cases especially in the towns of Bamenda, Bafoussam, Douala and the capital Yaoundé.

Mr Edwin Biyeh Abi, Country Manager of Unite for Health Foundation, a local NGO that assists Cameroonians to access healthcare through its micro-clinics, said there has been a drastic decline in the number of patients visiting their health centres since the coronavirus figures soared.

“We have decided to launch a telemedicine programme to permit those in the communities we serve to be able to use their phone and reach out to us either through direct phone call or video calls to consult with our doctors and get the best of advice on what to do about their health,” Mr Abi said.

Several other health facilities, including Blessed Hand Clinic in Yaoundé, have also adopted telemedicine.