The Plight of Female Cameroonian Migrant Sex Workers in N'Djamena, Chad: A Case of Intersectionality.

In most countries, sex-work is criminalized and frowned upon. This leads to human rights abuses, especially for migrant female sex workers. The burden is heavier on migrant female sex-workers whose gender and foreign citizenship intersect to produce a plethora of adverse health, social, and legal outcomes. This phenomenological study explores the intersectionality of individual factors leading to human rights abuses among migrant Cameroonian female sex workers in N'Djamena, Chad. Ten female sex workers and two key-informants were interviewed, and being a small sample, they gave detailed information about their experiences. The data was later analyzed using thematic analysis. Participants narrated experiences of social exclusion, exposure to diverse abuses, and health risks due to gender, immigrant status, and illegality of sex work. The experiences of female migrant sex workers, within contexts of sex work criminalization, are exacerbated by the intersectionality of these factors. Women endure several vulnerabilities in many African countries, more so when they have to survive on sex work as foreigners in a country where the act is illegal.

The Fight against Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting among the Ejaghams of Cameroon: Kinks in the Legal Approach and Implications for Public Health Practice.

Female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) is one of the most prevalent harmful cultural practices against women and girls in many African countries. We identified reasons for the failure of the legal approach to stop FGC practice in the Ejagham region Southwest of Cameroon through multi-locale ethnographic fieldwork. The reasons revolve around the belief that FGM is useful for the reduction of sexual immorality among women, removal of sexual ambiguity and improving genital esthetics, a feministic symbol and cultural identity, and the government's socio-economic neglect of the Ejagham communities; the basis for resistance. Non-legal approaches involving community development and women empowerment have been proposed for fighting FGC.

Reproductive health policy Saga: Restrictive abortion laws in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), unnecessary cause of maternal mortality.

Abortion is a common but controversial phenomenon globally. The discourse on the legality of abortion remains intricate, leaving a substantial number of women restricted from accessing safe abortion. There are evidence of an association between restrictive abortion laws, unsafe abortions, and maternal mortality in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs). We explore how restrictive abortion laws violate women's right to health and bodily integrity. We used Carol Bacchi's policy framework to analyze how restrictive abortion laws have been discursively framed (problematization); the assumptions that underpinned the representation; the consequences of the representation; what was left unproblematic; how the representation could be questioned, disrupted and replaced. We found that most of these laws are based on morality and the limited number of women in politics has made them objects rather than subjects in decision-making process. Therefore, we recommend a holistic approach to abortion laws with women leading the process to achieve reproductive justice.

Utilization of traditional medicine and its integration into the healthcare system in Qokolweni, South Africa; prospects for enhanced universal health coverage.

Despite the WHO providing a framework for the integration of traditional medicines into the health systems with pandemics like HIV/AIDS and the COVID-19, most countries are yet to adopt the recommendations. This study explored why the integration of traditional medicines with the biomedical healthcare system in Qokolweni in Eastern Cape, South Africa was stalling. The research employed qualitative research methods; participant observation and in-depth ethnographic interviews of community members, traditional healers, and nurses. The study found that: traditional medicines are widely used in Qokolweni due to accessibility and long-built trust; the practice is broad and not certified. To achieve the integration of traditional medicine into the conventional health systems, the central government needs to show political will by setting up regulatory strategies that provide for the scientific evaluation and certification of traditional medicines. This will build confidence among biomedical scientists and health practitioners, thereby fostering easy collaboration and integration.

The bat meat chain and perceptions of the risk of contracting Ebola in the Mount Cameroon region.

BACKGROUND: Local people's interaction with bats render them vulnerable to Ebola Virus Disease (EVD). This paper examines perceptions of risk involved in the hunting, handling, processing and consumption of bat meat in the Mount Cameroon region of Southwest Cameroon. It focuses on the myriad cultural beliefs, gendered patterns of activity and institutional arrangements in which the bat meat production chain is embedded. METHODS: We conducted 30 ethnographic interviews with a sample of purposively selected men and women involved in the bat meat trade. The interviews were tape recorded, transcribed verbatim and inductive analysis was performed on the data. FINDINGS: The findings suggests that more urban men than villagers and hunters consume bat meat. Different practices and behaviours expose the mostly uneducated, young, single men and women to the risk of Ebola infection depending on their differential level of intervention in the human-bat interaction and value chain linking hunters, sellers and customers. The killing of bats with the mouth during hunting expose hunters (young men) while the preparation of bat carcasses for consumption also put women, (mostly young and unmarried) at risk. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates that the complexity and nuances of gender, poverty and Ebola outcomes predispose some marginal groups to the risk of infection with zoonotic diseases. There is the need to improve public health intervention and health education among the rural masses in the Mount Cameroon region.

Armed conflict, a neglected determinant of childhood vaccination: some children are left behind.

Vaccination is an indisputable intervention that has tremendously mitigated the global burden of vaccine-preventable diseases (VPDs). The number of armed conflicts globally seems to be at an all-time high, with devastating effects on vaccination coverage. This paper will examine how armed conflicts affect childhood vaccination and lead to the reemergence and spread of VPDs. Unarguably, socioeconomic factors, population demographics, the apparent long vaccination timetable, multiple vaccine doses, lack of trust in vaccination processes and the rumor of the adverse effects of some vaccines unnerve some parents and create a puzzle. By bringing under the global floodlight, the impact of armed conflicts which contextually affect vaccination coverage, this article will help strengthen the advocacy for vaccination, and call for the fortification of existing treaties on the rule of engagement during conflicts. In order to eliminate or eradicate VPDs, strategies to reach children that are left behind during conflicts is paramount.

The role of faith leaders in influencing health behaviour: a qualitative exploration on the views of Black African Christians in Leeds, United Kingdom.

INTRODUCTION: Black African communities in the U.K suffer from health disparities compared to the general population. This has been attributed to the lack of culturally sensitive interventions that are meaningful to them. Faith leaders are an integral part of the community and are known to have immense influence on health behaviour of congregants and community members. However, their role in health behaviour change (alcohol and tobacco use) has been largely neglected. The aim of this study is to explore the views of Black African Christians on the role of their faith leaders in their health behaviour, with particular focus on the extent of influence and mechanisms that foster this. METHODS: Eight (8) semi-structured interviews were conducted with Black African Christians between the ages of 25-44, from two churches in Leeds, UK. Data were analysed using the principles of thematic analysis. RESULTS: Findings revealed that faith leaders could play a very important role in the health behaviour of their congregants. Faith leaders are able to influence health behaviour not only on the individual level but also on a socio-cultural and environmental level. They exert such influence through several mediators including through scriptural influence, social influence and by serving as a role models. However, no single mediator has been found to be exclusively associated to health behaviour change. CONCLUSION: Congregants view faith leaders as having an immense influence on their health behaviour. As a community resource, faith leaders could be better positioned to organize and foster community participation in health matters. Health promoters should thus consider collaborations with faith leaders to enhance the health of their community.

Socio-cultural determinants of infant malnutrition in Cameroon.

This study seeks to explore and explain the socio-cultural factors responsible for the incidence of infant malnutrition in Cameroon with particular emphasis on northern Cameroon where it is most accentuated. It combines quantitative data drawn from the 1991, 1998, 2004 and 2011 Cameroon Demographic and Health Surveys, as well as a literature review of publications by the WHO and UNICEF. This is further complemented with qualitative data from various regions of Cameroon, partly from a national ethnographic study on the ethno-medical causes of infertility in Cameroon conducted between 1999 and 2000. Whereas socio-cultural factors related to child feeding and maternal health (breast-feeding, food taboos and representations of the colostrum as dangerous for infants) are widespread throughout Cameroon, poverty-related factors (lack of education for mothers, natural disaster, unprecedented influx of refugees, inaccessibility and inequity in the distribution of health care services) are pervasive in northern Cameroon. This conjunction of factors accounts for the higher incidence of infant malnutrition and mortality in northern Cameroon. The study suggests the need for women's empowerment and for health care personnel in transcultural situations to understand local cultural beliefs, practices and sentiments before initiating change efforts in infant feeding practices and maternal health. Biomedical services should be tailored to the social and cultural needs of the target population--particularly women--since beliefs and practices underpin therapeutic recourse. Whereas infant diarrhoea might be believed to be the result of sexual contact, in reality, it is caused by unhygienic conditions. Similarly, weaning foods aimed at transmitting ethnic identity might not meet a child's age-specific food needs and might instead give rise to malnutrition.