Proceedings of The 6th International Conference on Modern Approaches in Humanities and Social sciences
Year: 2023
DOI:
[PDF]
Challenges in Effective Health Delivery System in the South West Region
Ziem Moamed, Miki Myrah Ndah, Ojong Joachim Ojong
ABSTRACT:
Public Hospital plays a significant role in the wellbeing of the population, poverty reduction and human development. The contributions of stakeholders in building hospitals in the South West Region of Cameroon have been an issue of contemporary socio-political discourse. Public infrastructures, equipment delivery and maintenance are provided to the population mainly by the government through public contracts.
This paper seeks to uncover the myriad of challenges involved in public hospital in the South West Region Cameroon. The study made use of both qualitative and quantitative data obtained using secondary and primary sources from documentary exploration and extensive field work. Secondary sources included books, annual reports and archives of Divisional and Regional Delegations, Inspectorates of Education, Regional Institute of Statistics and Public Contracts Regulatory Agency in the South West region.
Primary data was obtained during three months of extensive field investigations through questionnaires, interviews and focus group discussions. Field work was utilized to obtain geographic coordinates of publicly procured government hospital equipment and infrastructures. Results revealed that there is inefficiency in the way procurement undertaken for socio-economic benefits to the population. Procurement principles of health equipment in public hospital are ineffectively applied with lack of transparency, leading to inefficient execution of contracts. Late payment of contractors amongst others is a cause of poor execution in building infrastructure, lack of equipment maintenance and lateness in the delivery of procurement output in the domains in the region. The study recommends project owners to release contract funds earlier than usual, make tender bids more transparent and contractors responsible for poor execution of projects to be severely sanctioned.
keywords: Public hospital, poverty reduction, Public Investment, Development, Contract