The diabetes prevalence in Cameroon is 6.13% (IDF, 2011). In the rural areas, as much as 80% of people living with diabetes are undiagnosed. There has been no study in Cameroon to determine the prevalence and burden of diabetes among indigenous Mbororo Fulani people who are often poor and live in isolated areas with few or no health care facilities. The Mbroro Fulani people have traditionally reared cattle. However, because of climate change and environmental degradation, they have lost their herds and have converted to agriculture, which has caused their lifestyles to change from nomadic to sedentary. Their diets now mainly consist of corn and cassava flour. As a result, many Mbororo Fulani people have begun to develop diabetes. They are less able to deal with the rising burden of diabetes due to poverty, poor access to medical services, political and social marginalization. The existing healthcare capacity in Cameroon is inadequate and often inaccessible, inappropriate, or unaffordable for the indigenous people. The healthcare system does not take into account the Mbororo Fulani people’s holistic concept of health, which is based on their culture and traditional knowledge system. The project aims to promote equitable access to health services with community and family participation to improve diabetes care among the indigenous Mbororo Fulani people living in Cameroon.
This project will be undertaken by the Partner: Health of Populations in Transition Research Group (HoPiT), in collaboration with a local Christian organisation, Atteindre des Nations, which has been working with the Mbororo Fulani people since 2007. To determine, monitor, and document the burden of disease among the Mbororo Fulani people, the project team will sample 2000 adults in 5 villages and assess the nutritional, social, physical, and emotional determinants of diabetes among the population. Each adult will also be given a physical examination and known diabetes will be recorded. The capacity of healthcare workers to provide diabetes care within 50 kilometres of the villages will also be assessed. Training materials will be developed to train community leaders and health workers based on the findings. 1-2 health champions will be trained in each village so that he or she can diagnose and give basic diabetes care, screen pregnant women for gestational diabetes (GDM), recognize the symptoms of TB, and refer patients to the local health centres. 50 volunteer community health leaders will be trained in each village, and they will organize monthly diabetes and TB awareness camps in their native Fulani dialect. The findings of this project will be communicated by the Director of HoPit to the Ministry of Health.
• 5 indigenous Mbororo Fulani Villages targeted • Health questionnaire to assess determinants of diabetes among the population developed