Cameroon’s public spending on health was 1.6 per cent of GDP in 2011, equivalent to US$68 per capita. In the most recent survey, conducted between 1997 and 2009, there were 19 doctors, and 160 nurses and midwives per 100,000 people. Additionally, in the period 2007-12, 64 per cent of births were attended by qualified health staff and in 2012, 82 per cent of one-year-olds were immunised with one dose of measles. In 2011, 74 per cent of the country’s population was using an improved drinking water source and 48 per cent had access to adequate sanitation facilities. The most recent survey, conducted in the period 2000-11, reports that Cameroon has less than one pharmaceutical professional per 100,000 people.
Cameroon has three referral hospitals, some 70 general hospitals and 50 private hospitals together with a wide network of public and private health centres. Facilities outside Yaoundé and Douala are extremely limited. There are between 300 and 400 pharmacies in the country. A handful of licensed wholesalers import pharmaceuticals. The main sources of pharmaceutical products sold in Cameroon are France and India.
There is no officially approved mental health plan or policy.
However, mental health is specifically mentioned in general health policy and other legislation. There are 0.05 mental health outpatient facilities and 0.05 psychiatric beds in general hospitals per 100,000 people (2011).
