Clubfoot Treatment Sites Witness Increasing Clients Turnout
The Cameroon Clubfoot Care Project (CCCP) Clinics experienced an increase in the number of clubfoot cases received in 2017. This was revealed by the different partner clinics during the Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) visit to the sites.
The visits took place in October 2018, with the objective to understand the challenges clinic staff face in the provision of clubfoot services. The supervision was also aimed at assessing the quality of services provided and the progress of activities in the different clubfoot treatment sites.
At each of the clinic sites, CCC Project Officer, Tina Ashiyo explained the objective of the visit to the clinic staff and held discussions based on the recommendations the staff made in the previous M&E visit. Clinic staff updated the project team on the successes and challenges recorded in the aspects of treatment, compliance of parents to treatment, and awareness creation amongst other things.
At Centre Ndoukwa Yves Clinic in Mokolo, Fondation Bethleem Mouda in Maroua, and the Garoua Regional Hospital, all in the Northern regions of Cameroon, the clinics outlined the challenges faced such as poverty which makes it difficult for parents to access clubfoot treatment, long distances to the treatment sites, few clubfoot clinics in the region, and high rate of treatment relapse. Despite the challenges, the staff of the clinics noted that they have recorded success in many of the cases they have treated.
In the Center, Littoral, Southwest and West regions, some clinics highlighted challenges like parents’ noncompliance to treatment protocol. In the meantime, some clinics have put in place measures for proper follow up to ensure that parents comply with treatment procedures.
In the Littoral Region where some staff had received training from Mercy Ships, the situation was much improved. They shared good practices from their training with Mercy Ships, which has enhanced the quality of treatment offered to clients.
In all the clinics visited, the staff applauded the CCC Project for organizing trainings and providing treatment materials, which enabled them to provide the right treatment method to clients. They recommended further trainings and refresher courses especially on monitoring and evaluation (M&E) to keep them abreast with the Ponseti method of treating clubfoot.
At each of centers visited, the CCC Project team commended the staff and their administrators for their commitment in ensuring that children with clubfoot are treated using the Ponseti method. The staff further drilled on bracing, proper filling of assessment forms, and other clinical aspects that need improvement. The clinical members of the CCC Project team also took time in some of the clinics to do casting on children that had turned come for follow up.
The M&E Project Officer, Grace Ndzi, refreshed the staff’s knowledge on data collection and reporting deadlines. The team encouraged the staff to put in more efforts and maximize the means available to them given that the project is phasing out this year with 2019 set aside as a transition year.
At the Garoua Regional Hospital and Bafoussam Baptist Health Center, the M&E team paid a courtesy visit to the administrators to commend their efforts in ensuring clubfoot treatment. The administrators pledged their support to the project to ensure that more children with clubfoot have access to treatment.
The team also paid assessment visits to Meskine Hospital in Maroua, Tokombere District Health Center in the Far North Region and Presbyterian Health Complex in Douala, which had all shown interest in partnering with the CCC Project. The team had discussions with the administration of these health facilities on possible partnerships in the future to establish clubfoot clinics in their health facilities.
It is hoped that the visit to the 11 partner clinics will enhance the quality of clubfoot treatment services in the days ahead. It should be noted that the project has been paying monitoring visits to its sites once a year since 2016.