On April 10, the private Islamic hospital of Bamarea hosted the free screening campaign of the Amicale pour la Solidarité et de Développement branch of the Far North.

Hundreds of persons in Maroua, Far North Region have carried out a free diabetes and hypertension screening exercise to help known their status as they go about the Ramadan fasting.

According to statistics from the Ministry of Public Health, two percent of deaths are caused by diabetes each year in Cameroon.

The disease is the fifth leading cause of death according to the World Health Organization. In the Far North of Cameroon, this disease is classified behind communicable, maternal, perinatal and nutritional conditions (61%), other communicable diseases (13%), cardiovascular diseases such as high blood pressure (11%) .

Persons with advanced are more liable to succumb to diabetes and high blood pressure, health experts say.

It is in this light that the Association for Solidarity and Development, ASD organized free joint screening exercise which comes at a time the Muslim community is seriously engaged in fasting.

“We are in the heart of the Ramadan fasting and we know it is extremely hot in the northern regions so we thought it wise to help the Muslim community know their status during this period. They need to know if they are diabetic or suffer from high blood pressure… ”the President of the Far North branch of the ASD Hamza Yaya Bello said.

The screening exercise was held after several weeks of awareness-raising campaigns on social networks as well as on local and community radios.

“I learned of this campaign on radio and thought it wise to come for screening for my first time. It is really a good initiative and I hope this will be done regularly so we can know our status,” a beneficiary of the exercise Oumarou Bello said.

The free screening campaign for diabetes and arterial hypertension primarily targeted persons over the age of 50 as well as youth.

“I appreciated the initiative and I want to sincerely thank the organisers because they have helped me know my status and I have equally received valuable advice on how to control my diet,” another beneficiary, Amina Aissatou said.