Projects
Background
Since 2017, Cameroon’s Anglophone regions have been gripped by an armed conflict that has disrupted daily life, crippled healthcare systems, and left families struggling with trauma, insecurity, and poverty. Health facilities have shut down as medical staff fled to safer areas, leaving communities with limited and expensive access to care.
The crisis has also triggered a rise in mental health problems—depression, anxiety, PTSD, substance abuse—made worse by the near absence of mental health services. In response, SEMBE launched the Vital Signs Initiative to provide both physical healthcare and psychosocial support to vulnerable populations.
Our Solution
The initiative combined mental health awareness, primary healthcare, and disease prevention in a single community-based program. Services provided included:
- Mental Health Support: Awareness sessions, counselling, and psychological first aid.
- Primary Healthcare: Free consultations and treatment for common illnesses; referral of severe cases to hospitals.
- Disease Screening: Free tests for HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis B & C, malaria, diabetes, hypertension, and prostate cancer.
- Health Promotion: Training of youth peer educators on mental health, hygiene, and disease prevention.
Community leaders, religious leaders, and youth groups helped mobilize the population, secure venues, and ensure participation. Local health professionals provided technical expertise for consultations, counselling, and lab testing.
Achievements and Impact
Over the course of four days, the initiative reached hundreds of people across all age groups:
- 219 people received mental health counselling and support, with cases ranging from trauma, anxiety, and depression to alcohol and drug abuse.
- 423 patients consulted for primary healthcare, with malaria, respiratory infections, skin diseases, and untreated STIs among the most common.
- Hundreds screened for chronic diseases, revealing high numbers of untreated hypertension and diabetes, especially among the elderly who had stopped taking medication due to poverty.
- Youth peer educators trained, creating a community-level network to continue awareness on mental health and disease prevention.
Importantly, individuals newly diagnosed with chronic conditions were linked to care, and those testing positive for HIV were connected to treatment centres.
Voices from the Community
“I have lost everything… I felt better off dead. This initiative gave me someone who listened and supported me. Now I know I am not alone.” — Mama Lizette, 58, widow and survivor of multiple losses during the conflict.
“I had not taken my hypertension and diabetes medication for eight months. Thanks to SEMBE, I received care, lab tests, and three months of treatment. I feel alive again.” — Pa Dan, 72, widower.
“I suffered from an untreated infection that isolated me from my peers. The free screening and treatment gave me back my confidence and life. I thank SEMBE from the bottom of my heart.” — Julien, 17, orphan.
Challenges and Lessons Learned
While the initiative made a strong impact, it also revealed major gaps:
- Most local facilities lack mental health services, making follow-up difficult.
- Awareness of non-communicable diseases is very low; many had stopped treatment unknowingly.
- Beneficiaries expected broader financial support (like hospital fees), highlighting the need for clearer communication.
Despite these challenges, the initiative showed the urgent need for integrated healthcare and mental health support in conflict-affected communities.
Looking Ahead
With additional funding, the Vital Signs model can be scaled by:
- Establishing mobile clinic units to reach more remote communities.
- Strengthening mental health follow-up cells for continued counselling and care.
- Expanding community sensitization campaigns on both mental health and chronic disease management.
Vital Signs proved that with the right support, even short-term interventions can save lives, restore dignity, and bring hope to conflict-affected communities.