CATUC:Pioneer PhD Students Defend Thesis On Health Economics

By Raymond Dingana

The Cameroon Catholic University-CATUC has produced its first ever PhD holders in Health Economics after four candidates successfully defended their thesis over the weekend.

 Mbacham Mercy Akwi Tah, -Monounde , Fomba Louisette, Kinga Bertila Mayin, Promise Aseh Munteh and Rev. Clement Kum Mih successfully defended their PhD thesis on Health Economics and Anthropology in the North West Region of Cameroon much to the jury’s appreciation .

On Friday, December 11, Mbacham Mercy kicked off the exercises as she explored the Safety, Anti-proliferative activity and cost evaluation of medicinal plants against breast cancer in the NWR while candidate Fomba Louisette followed suit with the topic; the determinants of health and active aging: Evidence from Bamenda.

The next day, Kinga Bertila Mayin conducted an Empirical investigation into the Socioeconomic Risk Factors of Obesity while Promise Aseh Munteh focused on Telemedicine and Human Resources for Health Crisis in the NWR.

Presenting her work to the jury, Mbacham Mercy found out breast cancer has caused several fatalities in the North West Region especially among persons who don’t have the means to do a proper follow up.

She said when it comes to conventional therapy such as radiotherapy, chemotherapy, hormonal therapy, the ordinary Cameroonian can’t pay for which pushes them to seek herbal options.

Thus, questions have always been raised on the effective treatment of breast cancer through plant preparations, which forced her to embark on the research, Mbacham Mercy said.

“The government should give financial assistants to tradi-practitioners in order to ease the disease burden. Government should also incorporate them in to the system and not leave them on their own because there are many medicinal plants out there that traditional doctors use to battle breast cancer and so it is very necessary to carry out laboratory analyses to determine which one is safe and also think about the dosage because it makes the effect, ” she proposed.

She went further to detail her modus operandi but said it was difficult meeting some tradi-practitioners whom she described as aggressive. Talking to someone who is going through pain caused by cancer was not also easy, she said. But she had to take off time to explain to them what the study was all about before she had to get her way through.

On his part, Promise Aseh said Telemedicine is the use of Information and Communication technology to provide and support health care where distance separates the participants.

“This means that, a doctor can be here in Bamenda with a patient and is able to use information and communication technology to connect with a doctor in the United States of America and the doctor on the patient’s situation. We use telemedicine to be able to bridge the gap because we don’t have enough health workers so telemedicine is an alternative. Telemedicine may see the light of day come January,” he said.

Outlining some of the difficulties conducting the research, he said some of the health facilities did not gave a grasp on telemedicine and others even declined to take part in the study while the concept had to be further explained to others before they could take part.

Away from health economics, there was also a defence on Anthropological theses titled Religion among the Esu people in the NWR of Cameroon by Rev. Clement Kum Mih.

One of the students who was in the United States of America had to defend her thesis online.

It should be noted that, last weekend’s PHD theses defences were the first since the school went operational ten years ago.

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Photo Credit: Neba Jerome Ambe.