The Introduction of the Malaria Competence Process in Cameroon
25 February 2011
MC-CCAM was host to a 4-day workshop that ran from 21-24 February 2011 during which a high level team from the Constellation introduced 27 participating partners - drawn from the Directorate of Disease Control (DLM), the NMCP, Plan Cameroon, MC-CCAM, IRESCO and members of the Etetak community - to the Malaria Competence Process (MCP). Workshop participants took part in a series of interactive sessions with the facilitators, who drilled them on the relevance of the subject matter.
The goal of the workshop as the MC-CCAM CD/Project Manager underscored was to build the capacity of partners on MCP so that they would buy in to the concept and eventually use it as an advocacy approach in Community System Strengthening aimed at supporting communities to take the lead in their fight against malaria.
The MCP offers a window of opportunity for Cameroon to effectively attain universal coverage in scaling up Malaria Control Interventions in Cameroon and is of added value to the current Global Fund Round 9-Malaria Project.
At the end of the MCP workshop, participants left with 2 recommendations in mind: (1) the process of the Cameroon Competence must start now and (2) the fact of using the GF R9-Malaria Project to scale up the MCP. They left with a better understanding of the MCP and as true "converted advocates" fired with zeal to convince their respective structures to buy in to the process. The facilitators also expressed their satisfaction with the interest and commitment shown by the participating partners and admitted that such working spirit can only lead them to the path of success.
A couple of weeks later, a feedback meeting on the MCP took place the NMCP with Dr Benjamin Biholong of DLM as the chairman. The NCMP was then designated to be the coordinator of the Cameroon Competence, while Plan Cameroon is the host. A number of resolutions were taken at the end of the meeting and shall be communicated to the founding structures subsequently.
