How Community Development Can Be Beneficial to Public Health in Cameroon
Community development involves the coming together of community members to take collective action and generate solutions to common problems. This development project could be sponsored by an individual for the wellbeing of that community.
Community development and health are usually considered separate but the two go hand in glove to boost the wellbeing of a community. For example, public health experts will present maps with red colors to depict high prevalence of a disease in a community while community development experts will present maps showing overcrowded houses in that community. These overcrowded houses could be the cause of high prevalence of the disease presented by health experts. It is important for community development experts and public health experts to work together. This collaboration can reduce health expenditure by intervening in the social determinants of health, which research suggests are the primary drivers of health outcomes. It is therefore important for philanthropy and government to encourage health and community development partnerships.
Here are some practical daily approaches in community development that can have an impact on public health.
1. Housing
Housing is very important in both community development and health. Most Rural areas in Cameroon have poor housing plans. For example, houses are built without toilets; with these, people turn to use their surrounding environment to ease themselves. This can cause diseases which are transmitted by the fecal-oral route. Overcrowded houses, which is common in urban areas, is unhealthy for communities, such as the case of Ndokoti neighborhood in Douala.
It is important to make provisions for open space when building houses as overcrowding can facilitate the spread of certain infectious diseases like cholera, TB, acute respiratory infections, scabies etc.
2. Availability Of Clean Water
Clean water is very important in any community. Most rural communities in Cameroon fetch water from rivers for household chores. In areas where schistosomiasis is endemic, this is a route to infection. Households that cannot afford pipe-borne water could sink wells for water and use for their household chores. It is necessary for every community in those areas to have public taps where these people can fetch drinking water. This can also help prevent water-borne diseases. There is also need for community members to be educated on basic and cost-effective methods of water purification like boiling, filtration and chlorination.
3. Financial Education
It is important to provide financial education to all who are willing to learn. Educating people on how to minimize debts of all kinds will enable them to acquire an increased purchasing power. The extra money could go towards better home maintenance, more viable local businesses (provision stores, barbing saloons etc.), or other things that are paramount to maintaining a healthy community like proper feeding.
4. Availability Of Entertainment Hubs
Community members can contribute to improved mental health of their communities by constructing entertainment hubs. It may be difficult to have a patient suffering from depression to go across the city to watch a movie or play games. This would be easier if there existed an entertainment hub in their neighborhood. Entertainment such as gaming and relaxation parks can reduce stress and anxiety.
5. Domestic Violence Prevention
Domestic violence is common in Cameroon. It is necessary for the community members to make decisions on how to handle these cases and comfort the victims. Policy makers should implement strict legal actions against the abusers and put in place measures for psychological rehabilitation of survivors. This will positively impact the town by lowering the rates of abuse and loss of life.
6. Waste Management
A proper waste disposal and management cycle is an important community development project as it reduces adverse effects of waste on human health. One harmful effect of garbage is air pollution, which can cause various respiratory diseases and other adverse health effects. It is important to emphasize here that this project must not be implemented by the government, it could start from individuals. Cities like Douala suffer from poor waste management. Inhabitants, public transport and road users tend to dispose of waste irresponsibly on the streets and wherever, creating dirty and unhealthy environments. Proper waste disposal starts at an individual level. If everyone could respect proper ways to dispose of their trash, it will be beneficial to the community. With the availability of HYSACAM (a municipal waste disposal company), waste disposal systems should be made readily accessible for pick up by HYSACAM using available trash cans.
As far as community development is involved, a lot more still remains unexposed by this article. Community development is not exclusively reserved to the giant projects implemented by the government or philanthropy but also open to individual initiatives. Every individual is invited to engage in community development, participating particularly in activities that are constructive and mutually beneficial to community health.
Njoache Mildred, MSc
Njoache Mildred is a Monitoring and Evaluation Officer for Cameroon Baptist Convention Health Services. Interests also include research, writing and disease surveillance. She graduated from the University of Buea with a Master’s degree in Epidemiology and Control of Infectious Diseases.
Great write up there. I think you make a lot of strong points in our article, but I think somethings could be added with regard to community health and development. There is an adage that goes “ Doing something for me without me, is doing nothing to me”. In as much a public health experts and community development experts have to work together they have to involve the community to a maximum. Because for sustainability in behavioral change the stakeholders involved have to be actioning every process and understand the importance of the reasons to change behavioral patterns
Beautiful write up. Keep it up
Great piece .
I think as it’s clearly stated in here tackling either community development or public health interventions , will both have a positive synergistic effect either ways, likewise a reliable way attaining some SDGs.
Kudos Mildred.
great piece.
Great Concept Mildred.
It has long been understood that many factors beyond health care actually influences health. Social and economic determinants of health also include a physical environment and income. With this reality, there is a growing realization of the potential for synergies between work to help low income communities and their need to promote and improve health. Courage to you !!!
Good piece indeed.
Community development is highly important for health system strengthening.
Great work. These are actually intriguing facts. Our nation could be healthier if various agencies start investing in these projects. We should not allow small social factors which could be managed at a very small cost to facilitate the spread of some communicable diseases in our communities
Wow, this is a very interesting writeup. I have gained so much knowledge about community development efforts and possible effects on health. Thanks a lot for this masterpiece.
that helped a lot. I feel more inspired now towards SDGs and health management
Nice article. Love the ideas you brought out about community development and wish this article goes a long way
This is an awesome writeup, wish the communities follow up on this coz immediate action is needed.
Good write up. Keep up the spirit.
Great work
What a great write up. Keep it up my dear
Great piece dear. If many More can get to red this it will help a great deal
Beautiful write-up, simply put yet very strong points .great work
Good job Mildred. Are you going to initiate a project like this within the framework of the CBC Health Service? Dr Esum.
Great work.i have learned alot.keep up
This is is good, how I wish to see many more minds thinking in this direction. Nicely done.
Excellent article. Brilliant. I have learnt much from this.
Good health is a prerequisite for sustainable development. Very educative article. I believe if the above issues are addressed then our communities will be charged with good health which will lead us to sustainable development.
That’s Great Mimi. Learnt alot from this
This is a great writeup. It has widened my understanding on what community development is all about. However, for an effective and meaningful community development to take place, good policies and legislations are required. I am very much passionate about waste management and environmental protection. Congratulations, Mildred. May God add you more wisdom and grace.
Wow!Excellent write up. hope these ideas will be applied in our community. That’s gonna be perfect.
Nice writeup. Indeed a well planned and developed community will go a long way to address most of the health problems faced by under developed countries.
First of all i want to appreciate you for this wonderful article. Its just but a necessity for this 2 entities to work together. It will be crazy if the competent authorities that have the means to reinforce this and individuals like us to over look such an important article.
Perfect article. I’ve gained a lot from it. I believe if all the above mentioned àre put into practiced, our communities won’t be the same and definitely be a better place.
This is great dear. Keep up
Excellent and very timely writeup. Planning is the key to every successful venture. And planning and implementing as a community will definitely result in a very healthy community. Thumbs up!
Great article Mildred. Financial education especially has been neglected in our country whereas it is the key to any kind of development expected whether as a community or at the individual level.
Great work Mildred ,as you rightly said each and everyone in a community owes a responsibility to promote community development .Putting together the above listed points and a great sensitization campaign to the masses on aspects of community development ,will bring about a sustainable development society with good health for all.
This is so good Mildred, such a wonderful article
Keep up
Good write-up Mildred. Keep it up
Wow that was a brilliant article my dr..from this I get to understand more about health management…thanks and keep up
Great write up as it can be consumed by every group of persons. It’s really simple but very rich.
Courage dear and keep up
Thanks for educating us
Nice one. Courage