#safersurgeryCameroon
Lifebox and CAMNOWAA: making surgery safer in Cameroon
Lifebox Foundation is proud to be working in collaboration with the Cameroon North West Association of Anaesthetists (CAMNOWAA) to increase surgical safety for patients and anaesthesia providers in Cameroon.
Lifebox donated 60 pulse oximeters, and training will be delivered in collaboration with CAMNOWAA to anaesthesia providers across the country at the 2nd Scientific Conference in Shisong, themed – safe surgery saves lives – on Saturday 21 February 2015.
Surgery is a vital component of healthcare and thousands of operations take place each year in Cameroon; but lack of training and monitoring equipment can make them desperately unsafe.
President of the CAMNOWAA, Benson Nfon Tanjong, who will be leading the training, explained, “Since we began working with Lifebox Foundation in 2012 we have heard many reports of improvement in our ability to deliver safer anaesthesia, safer surgical care. This programme with the delivery of further equipment and education will continue to ensure a long-term improvement across the country.”
A pulse oximeter is an essential piece of anaesthesia monitoring equipment, used to read the level of oxygen in a patient’s bloodstream. It is the only piece of equipment required to complete the World Health Organization (WHO) Surgical Safety Checklist, proven to reduce surgical complications and mortality by more than 40 percent.
Lifebox is the only NGO dedicated to bringing this life-saving intervention to low-resource setting countries, where risk of mortality from surgery can be 100 to 1000 times greater than in high-resource countries.
Pauline Philip, Lifebox Chief Executive said, “We know how hard anaesthesia providers work in Cameroon to keep their patients safe, and we are delighted to be working with CAMNOWAA to provide the tools and training they need to make surgery safer.”
View updates of tomorrow’s training workshop in Cameroon, find out about the difference we’re making and join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter using #safersurgeryCameroon.
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