 |
People were distraught as they looked on as the impromptu
operation was performed
|
Mobile phone footage of a woman without medical
training cutting open the belly of a dead woman in a desperate attempt
to save her unborn twins has
provoked an outcry in Cameroon.
The impromptu surgery was done in the open air
by a family member with razorblades outside the
maternity ward of Douala's Laquintini Hospital,
because medical staff refused to help.
One of the babies was dead, but witnesses said
the second baby was still alive when it was removed,
though it died shortly afterwards.
As the hospital staff refused to help,
this has not been corroborated by medical officials.
 |
| Monique Koumateke |
About an hour earlier, Monique Koumateke, 31,
was nearly full term when her family rushed her
to hospital in a taxi after she had become ill.
The midwife on duty told her relatives she was
already dead and should be taken to the mortuary.
Then an attendant, Monga Luc, noticed the twins
might still be alive.
"The mortuary attendant even came and said the
babies were still kicking inside the stomach,"
her mother Marie Sen told the BBC.
"We went to the maternity ward [again] but
they chased us away."
However, when they went back to the main hospital,
they were told no-one would help.
This is when a relative of Ms Koumateke's partner,
Takeh Rose, rushed to find some razorblades to see
if she could rescue the twins.
Onlookers at the hospital two weeks ago filmed
the scene and the footage was shared on social media.
'Hospital not to blame'
In the subsequent uproar, police arrested the
midwife and nurse on duty that day, as well as
Ms Rose and the mortuary attendant. All four
have been released on bail as investigations
continue.
Hospital officials have not commented, but
Health Minister Andre Mama Fouda, speaking
after the arrests, said the staff at the state-run
institution had done nothing wrong.
A Supreme Court judge has also become
involved in the heated debate about the issue
online.Justice Ayah Paul Abineposted on Facebook
that the minister's exoneration of the hospital staff
needed to be investigated.
Protesters in Douala have been calling for Mr Fouda
to resign.
"Hospitals now are just money-making businesses,"
one resident said
 |
The Koumateke family gathered last weekend to mourn
|
Cameroonians do not receive free health care
and have to pay for consultations as well as
medicine, which can be costly.
It is not uncommon for people to be detained
at hospitals until their bills are paid.
According to the UN, 28% of Cameroon's population
live below the income poverty line.
'Pay first, treatment later'
The recent death of a pregnant medical doctor in
Douala caused similar outrage.
Dr Helene Ngo Kana had an ectopic pregnancy and
was unable to pay for medical assistance - and so died in Douala's General
Hospital without getting any help.
"This is a regime of shame. You have to pay
before they deliver you; pay before you are treated
," said opposition leader John Fru Ndi, condemning
the poor treatment of patients at state-run hospitals.
He made the comments after visiting the Koumateke
family at their run-down house in Douala's Mboppi
slum. Ms Koumateke leaves behind her partner a
nd two children aged three and five.
More than a dozen lawyers have now clubbed
together to fight for justice for those who came to Ms Koumateke's aid.
They are offering their services free of charge to
help win compensation for Ms Koumateke's children
and her partner, as well as defending Ms Rose and
the mortuary attendant.
"We are first of all humans, then lawyers. This sad
incident could not leave anyone indifferent," said
attorney Guy Olivier Moutin.
"It's a fight for the widower and the two children
left behind. And we will defend two of the four
arrested… we will fight for their total freedom."
And civil society leaders in Doula, like Ferdinand
Ndifor, are calling for a full investigation into
Cameroon's health system.
"Are the hospitals equipped? Are there enough
doctors on duty?" he asked.
"We want to know - will this happen again
tomorrow?"
BBC cullage
*That razor blade operation still gives me the shivers.....The woman who did it
had no choice,I applaud her courage...A desperate last minute attempt to save a
loved one.
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