Personal Sacrifice That Paid Off
Moussa Oumarou, a commercial motorbike rider, gave up his job to assist his wife take care of their preterm twins through the kangaroo method.
Were it not for his timely and wise decision, their babies might not be alive today. Unlike most husbands, he saw baby care – especially
“specialised” baby care - not only as a woman’s responsibility, but also his duty.
Moussa Oumarou,
a commercial motorbike rider, and wife,
Oumoul Kousoulmi, were on November 2, 2020, blessed with a set of twins – their fifth and sixth children. But the celebration of the newborn by the
Maternal, Newborn, Child Health: Mortality Rates Curbed, Hospital Delivery Figures Raised
According to the last
Cameroon Demographic and Health Survey and the
2014 Multi-indicator Cluster Survey Statistics, MICS report, about 7,000 women die in the country due to
pregnancy complications or during
delivery. While
neonatal mortality (the death rate of babies in the first 28 days of life) was 28 deaths per 1,000 live births. Concerned by the situation, government, with the support of the
United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF and the
United Nations Population Fund, UNFPA, launched the
Running from 2018-2022, the project is funded by the
Islamic Development Bank, IsDB. It covers 34 health districts in the
Kangaroo’s Huge Challenges, Despite Strides
Evaluation of the project, “
Improving access and quality of new-born care in 5 health districts of the East Region from 2018-2020” is still underway. Funded by the
Korea National UNICEF Committee and implemented by the
East Regional Delegation of Public Health and the
Cameroon Kangaroo Foundation, the project also received technical and financial assistance from 5,000 children in
Abong-Mbang, Doume, Bertoua, Batouri and Garoua Boulai Health Districts. It involved Abong-Mbang, Doume, Bertoua, Batouri and Garoua Boulai
District Hospitals;
Bertoua Regional Hospital and the
Though evaluation is still going on to determine the full impact of the project,