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Photo: Avi Nir
'The Israeli program was well received by the local Cameroon health system' (archives)
Photo: Avi Nir

Israeli envoy offers vaccinations instead of cocktails

Instead of hosting festive Independence Day reception, Israeli Embassy in Cameroon initiates project providing medical care for more than 10,000 African children in Gado Refugee Camp.

Israel's ambassador to Cameroon came up with an original way to celebrate the Jewish state's Independence Day this year: Instead of hosting a festive reception, he initiated a project providing medical care for more than 10,000 children in the Gado Refugee Camp in eastern Cameroon.

 

 

As part of the project, which was funded and organized by the Israeli Embassy, 5,300 children were vaccinated against polio and 4,917 against measles, and 543 children received initial medical care.

 

The activity was coordinated with different United Nations organizations, including the World Health Organization, the Red Cross, the Red Crescent, Doctors Without Borders, the local health ministry and the Cameroon Pediatrician Association.

 

The children are refugees from the Central African Republic who fled the violence in their countries. Most of them are Muslims. The vaccinations were given for a week to children under the age of 15.

 

The camp holds 19,000 people. A total of 12,000 are children under 15, many of them suffering from malnutrition that facilitates infection by other diseases.

 

Israeli Ambassador Nadav Cohen recruited about 30 staff members and physicians for the operation. Despite the organizational difficulties, the project took place as planned.

 

"There were extremely difficult physical and mental conditions, but we met the targets we set for ourselves," He said. "We discovered 15 cases of tuberculosis, pointing to an epidemic in local terms."

 

Ambassador Cohen expressed his hope that other diplomatic missions will follow in the State of Israel's footsteps and offer assistance to the camp's refugees.

 

"The Israeli program was well received by the local Cameroon health system, as well as by the international aid agencies with which we worked," he said. "The project had an educational and perceptual value as well, as it showed the residents that they can help themselves and need not rely solely on international aid."

 

The Israeli campaign gave local physicians a professional opportunity to get to know the real situation on the ground, as the different organizations have been providing contradicting reports about the severity of the situation. Thanks to the project, Israel was also welcomed into the community of international health and aid organizations.

 

Following the project, the Israeli envoy was invited to the opening ceremony of the national polio vaccination campaign held in the presence of Cameroon's prime minister. He was also invited to address the Cameroon Pediatrician Association.

 


פרסום ראשון: 07.04.14, 14:07
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