REPUBLIQUE DU CAMEROUN Paix-Travail-Patrie SERVICES DU PREMIER MINISTRE SECRETARIAT GENERAL REPUBLIC OF CAMEROON Peace-Work-Fatherland PRIME MINISTER'S OFFICE SECRETARIAT GENERAL
# PRESS RELEASE
The Prime Minister, Head of Government, H.E. Joseph DION NGUTE, this Thursday 6 August 2020, through a video conference, chaired the eighteenth weekly meeting of the Inter-Ministerial Committee in charge of evaluating and monitoring the implementation of Government's response strategy against the COVID-19 pandemic in Cameroon.
Three items featured on the agenda of this meeting, namely:
- the pandemic situation in Cameroon;
- the local manufacturing process of COVID-19 drugs;
- the progress of negotiations with the European Union on the entry conditions into the Member States of that Community.
With regard to the situation of the COVID-19 pandemic in Cameroon, statistics provided by MINSANTE indicate that 17,586 people were infected with the virus, of whom 16,060 were cured and 393 died. The case-fatality rate is 2.2% while the cure rate is 91.32%, thus confirming the stabilization of the contamination curve observed in recent weeks. The Minister of Public Health indicated that the continuation of actions to raise awareness among the population, the deployment of mobile screening caravans, capacity building in health districts and epidemiological surveillance are the priority areas of the response strategy at the medical level.
With regard to the local manufacturing process of COVID-19 drugs, the Minister of Scientific Research and Innovation reported that an initial stock of 5 million Hydroxychloroquine tablets and 2.5 million Azythromycin tablets have already been produced by IMPM. These drugs are in the process of being approved by the specialized services of MINSANTE and LANACOME, prior to being made available to health facilities. In addition, a second batch of drugs will be made available in the coming days.
Regarding negotiations with the European Union, the Minister of External Relations stressed that consultations are continuing, with a view to better consider the efforts made by Cameroon under the COVID-19 response strategy. The Government continues to inform the authorities of the European Union and the World Health Organisation on the evolution of the epidemiological situation in Cameroon.
At the end of the discussions, the Head of Government instructed:
- the Minister of Scientific Research and Innovation, in conjunction with the administrations concerned, to speed up the approval process for medicines already produced, with a view to making them available to health facilities;
- the Minister of Public Health to continue the deployment of mobile COVID-19 screening caravans in popular spots and to ensure the proper functioning of the COVID-19 Specialized Patient Treatment Centres. He was also instructed to ensure the availability of the drugs required for the application of the treatment protocol against COVID-19 in all public and private health facilities approved by the Ministry of Health.