This is the largest Catholic hospital in the English-speaking part of Cameroon and some patients travel up 300 miles from the coast because of its very good reputation. It was started by the Franciscan Sisters in 1953. The immediate catchment area has a population of 16,458 but there are other hospitals in the area, notably the large Baptist Hospital in Kumbo. It has 350 beds in 10 wards and 250 staff (including 10 doctors). As well as general surgery, it has a new cardiac unit and offers dentistry and ophthalmology. It supervises the Franciscan Sisters’ Health Centres in the area and arranges monthly visits to aid posts by primary health teams to give vaccinations. The number of out-patient consultations annually exceeds 23,000 and admissions average about 6,500-7,500 per year.

After a visit in February 2010, we discovered that last year, the hospital delivered 778 babies. Carried out 4,288 HIV tests of which 637 (15%) were positive. We also visited the new Cardiac Unit which opened in September 2009. It is an utterly remakable place bearing in mind its remote location. It has been funded by the Italian Government. Their aim is to be the foremost centre in West Africa. They are able to perform open heart surgery as they have 3 bypass machines. They receive medicines from Inter Care through Shishong Hospital but definitely require more of them. In Douala, two thirds of the medicines on sale are often available on the streets from Nigeria and can be ineffective and harmful.