The Policy Basis for Community Health Financing in Cameroon : Establishment of the North West Provincial Special Fund for Health

National health systems in Africa and around the world have and are still undergoing reforms in response to the Alma Ata Declaration. In Africa; people centred; community based and locally managed strategies are widely accepted. And in many countries like Cameroon; revolving funds for essential drugs have been adopted as an entry point to the implementation of primary health care elements in community health centres. The current reforms are leading to a sharing of financing responsibilities between people and government; with catalytic support from external agencies. Economic; social and political crises in Africa in the past decade have earned the countries stiff structural adjustment policies with severe consequences on health budgets; health manpower; and health status. This paper describes the policy basis for community financing in Cameroon. It suggests that revolving essential drugs funds (as proposed in the Bamako Initiative) cannot be viewed in isolation; but as part of the community and national response to the crises situation; it also demonstrated the capacity of the health sector to fight back to overcome the ill effects of structural adjustment. And last but not the least; these funds have provided an opportunity for the exercise of democracy and the participatory management by these officials of public goods and services

A Health development framework for policy makers

This paper outlines a health development framework; based upon the author's experiences in African countries and his observations of the achievements of a number of countries in other continents in the past decade. The framework was adopted by African governments in 1985; and is being actively implemented

Health : a prerequisite for socioeconomic development

Health and socieconomic development are interrelated. Good health standards are associated with socioeconomic development; poverty invariably goes with ignorance and disease. There is a positive correlation between per capita income; living standards and health status. Healthy people have been seen throughout history as an essential element of social and economic progress; since the driving force of development has been human energy

A Minimum Health-for-All package for district health systems

This integrated package includes a range of public health activities; health centre services delivered to the population of the district in a network of health centres and community health initiatives; which are stimulated by and reinforce the health centre services. The network of health centres in the district provides the operational base for implementing the package of agreed activities

Guidelines for the implementation of community-based; district managed health revolving funds

The operation of community revolving funds is an important strategy not only for getting communities involved in meeting their own basic needs; it is also a strategy for promoting community action in socioeconomic (including health) development. Its operation is a way of empowering the people to plan; manage and finance health and economic activities that would promote individual; family and community social and economic well-being and self-reliance. The establishment and management of community revolving funds should; therefore; be given the necessary support by the district and national authorities as well as by the international agencies; including nongovernmental organizations; since it is an effective way to foster development for the people and with the people