Cerviauxilia Onlus, an association of medical professionals from Cervia, has been working in Ngaoundal, Cameroon, since 2004 at the Centre de Santé Intégré of the Catholic mission run by the Sisters of Charity of Saint Jeanne-Antide. As Dr. Morelli, a gynecological surgeon and the association’s president, explains, alongside the work of Italian doctors, the intervention includes:
1) Training local healthcare staff.
2) Improving laboratory services until routine testing can be performed, including the purchase of a Roche Reflotron analyzer.
3) Improving delivery-room equipment, including a delivery bed and obstetric vacuum extractor, and purchasing an ultrasound machine for basic obstetric and gynecological diagnosis.
4) Purchasing an ambulance for emergency transfers to the district hospital.
5) Contributing to the installation and maintenance of an internet station.
6) Sending monthly supplies of medicines unavailable on the African market.

Construction of a small hospital in Galà Galà began in early 2010, comprising:
1) Emergency and observation services.
2) Maternity and gynecology.
3) Pediatrics.
4) Surgery.
5) Internal medicine.
6) Laboratory, radiology, operating room, sterilization, pharmacy, and guest accommodation facilities.

TELEMEDICINE SERVICE

Providing telemedicine in this country means not only supporting local doctors with consultations from Italian specialists, but also building new skills over time and making the hospital as independent and operational as possible.
The specialties covered are: 1) cardiology, 2) dermatology, 3) gynecology, and 4) spirometry and pulmonology.

The transmission station consists of:

1. A personal computer and transmission software connected via the internet to the Cerviauxilia server;
2. A high-definition webcam for taking both close-up and wider dermatological images;
3. A 12-lead electrocardiograph;
4. Software with a medical record form designed to submit clinical questions to specialists.

The Reporting Station
Clinical questions and treatment issues uploaded to the Cerviauxilia server will automatically be forwarded to individual specialists. An SMS will notify them that an examination awaiting their report is available on the server.

By connecting online from their own computer, specialists can review the clinical record, ECG tracing, or attached images, provide a diagnosis or report, or request further tests.
The report will automatically be sent back to the center.

Software Features
The most complex part of the software was creating the patient registration system. This requires some explanation: in Cameroon, health cards or identification documents are unavailable in this setting, and patients often do not remember or know their date of birth. A photograph is therefore linked to each patient’s personal details.
Requests for reports or diagnoses sent to specialists will be translated automatically from French into Italian, with reports translated in the opposite direction.
The software was designed to retrieve and statistically analyze any data entered in the medical record.

Fondazione Irma Romagnoli has already contributed to part of the overall project by funding the telemedicine service, which is already operational.

Cost: €5,000

The project was fully funded by Solgar.

Fondazione Irma Romagnoli also intends to help fund the new pediatric ward within the mission hospital currently under construction.

Planned financial commitment: €30,000. Project implementation period: three years.