The Special National Solidarity Fund in Cameroon created by the President of the Republic, Paul Biya has seen an additional 770 million FCFA contributed by corporate bodies and private individuals. The information was disclosed by the Minister of Public Health, Dr Manaouda Malachie. This makes a total of 1,770,150,000 FCFA, if we count the one billion endowment provided by the Head of State.
This money will be used to pay the hotel bills in which the passengers arriving in Cameroon were confined, the management of the field teams in the framework of the permanent monitoring of this epidemic and the acquisition of protective equipment and sanitation.
The Solidarity Fund will be used as well for the development of care centers in health facilities, the development of special care centers of large capacity, including the Olembé site with amenities such as refrigerators, televisions, , cutlery and kitchen utensils, televisions with subscription, as well as a linen cleaning service installed on site.
After El-Hadj Baba Danpullo, Cameroonian-born business tycoon who donated 100 million FCFA to the fund, Senator Sylvestre Ngouchinghe, CEO of CONGELCAM donated the sum of 250 million FCFA Friday.
After closing its borders, shutting down schools and prohibiting gatherings of more than 50 persons, Cameroon has now launched an active search for cases, in particular through massive testing of the population.
“The second line of action is the optimal management of confirmed positive cases, from the point of view of protocols, hospital care and equipment supply. The third is social regulation, the objective of which is to limit community contamination, notably through awareness raising and regulation of the flow of people in crowded areas. Finally, the fourth line of action focuses on governance and accountability, in order to better coordinate actions between sectors, ensure efficient management of human resources and guarantee transparency in the management of resources made available.”
Public Health Minister said Friday that two other large-capacity care centres are being set up at the Yaoundé military stadium and at Carrefour Zoé in a bid to increase the management capacity to more than 1,000 beds.
“At the same time, the specialised management centres in charge of severe cases, continue to increase their reception capacity and quality health care. A massive acquisition and redistribution operation in all regions is under way. The first contingents are expected to arrive in the regions in the coming days.
“Similarly, there is a large order for respiratory assistance equipment through the central procurement office of the United Nations Development Programme. With regard to social regulation, there is no need for me to recall the extension of the measures enacted by the Government, on the very high instructions of the President of the Republic, with an emphasis on their implementation, as instructed by the Prime Minister, Head of Government following the evaluation meeting he chaired on Thursday, 02 April 2020.
“With regard to governance, we have taken the option of devolving Covid-19 event management system and placing it under the responsibility of the Governors of the Regions. Moreover, I have also ordered the provision of financial means to act, within the limits of available resources. As regards resources, while thanking the President of the Republic for the resources that he was kind enough to make available to the Special National Solidarity Fund for the fight against the Coronavirus, I would like to let you know that a delegated authorising officer and an administrator of the said account have been formally appointed.”
At the time of this report, the country has 554 confirmed cases of Covid-19.
