Cameroon’s medical and football fraternities recorded a big loss late last week when Dr. Anastasie Akamba, head of a district hospital in the capital Yaounde died from COVID-19. The state broadcaster, CRTV, said she had been in respiratory distress for days before succumbing.
She was also the doctor for the Under-17 national women’s football team. The football federation confirmed the death last Friday, July 10. FECAFOOT in their condolence message described her as a “servant of women’s football.”
“Deeply touched by this other big loss that we are registering within the medical professional, I would like to express all my compassion to the bereaved families. We will continue to improve the protection of health personnel throughout this crisis,” Health Minister Manaouda Malachie tweeted on Sunday.
The issue of exposed medics in the frontline of the virus fight continues to beset Africa’s already bogged down health system. Ghana, Nigeria, and recently Kenya are among countries that have lost health personnel to the virus.
Most health workers have been given tax rebates by governments while elsewhere they have protested against lack of personal protective equipment and for more risk allowances, case in point Zimbabwe, Nigeria and Malawi.
Source: africanews.com