Primary health care beyond COVID-19: dealing with the pandemic in Cameroon

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a global pandemic on the 11 March 2020, after over 118 000 cases were confirmed worldwide from 114 countries, 1 and, as of 8 June 2020, 6 931 000 confirmed cases were recorded globally. 2 Overcrowding, poverty, poor hygiene practices, and weak information management systems are named as key among other factors and social determinants of COVID-19 spread. 3 Due to the rapid global spread of SARS-CoV-2 (the virus causing COVID-19), causing an unprecedented number of deaths, many countries around the world imposed periods of shutdowns with a resultant change in service delivery models of primary care. In high income countries, remote consultations by telephone and video were quickly rolled out as alternative models of care at primary health care (PHC) level. Since the confirmation of the first COVID-19 case in Cameroon on 6 March 2020, policymakers, scientists, public health experts, and emergency specialists have been mobilised to respond to the outbreak, seeking solutions to contain the spread of the virus. 6 Very little attention has been paid, however, to strengthening the PHC system to contain the spread of the virus in communities. Most efforts to control COVID-19 have been limited to central and regional laboratories and hospitals, 6 forgetting the importance of PHC in emergency preparedness, response, and recovery. The WHO recommends the involvement of PHC in triaging of patients presenting with COVID-19 symptoms while ensuring continuum of service delivery of essential health care. 8