Polish medical mission to Cameroon

The group consists of surgeons, pediatricians, anaesthesiologists, eye specialists, a nurse and medical students. They have taken with them medicines and medical equipment as well as various items for a local primary school.

The project is being run by the Regional Physicians’ Council in Kraków, with support from the ‘Without Frontiers’ Association of International Aid.

Pediatrician Lidia Stopyra has told Poland’s KAI Catholic news agency that the infant mortality rate in Cameroon is very high as a result of limited access to medical care and vaccinations against contagious diseases. This is why the Polish team plans to focus on children in its work, she said.

Members of the team are covering the travel costs themselves and are formally on a leave of absence from their places of work.

This is the fourth Polish medical project in Cameroon. The previous missions were in 2008, 2011 and 2016. Last year, Polish doctors offered treatment to 1,100 patients in this central African country.

One of the originators of the project is Cameroonian-born surgeon George Kamtoh, who studied in Kraków and currently works there. (mk/gs)