A one-week campaign was organised at St. Luc Hospital in Mbalmayo, dedicated to the treatment of complications arising from bone fractures; and at very low cost. The quality of care was provided and the well-equipped surgical block was very functional.

In Cameroon, fractures of long bones are among the most common conditions seen in the emergency room, posing the following problems:

1. Patients with such conditions usually come from the most vulnerable groups in society (moto taxi drivers) and are usually destitute at the time of the accident.
   

2. The care of fractures is flawed in almost all hospitals in the country because of the lack of needed equipment (devices, auxiliary instruments and implants). Being a victim of a fracture in Cameroon is almost always the beginning of a real struggle for patients and families.
   

3. This situation is the reason why our patients, disappointed by the harshness of the system, no longer trust our hospitals and turn to traditional healers who have no scientific knowledge. From there they come back to us, this time with additional complications.
   

4. Even if patients want to have surgery, the time to treatment is very long for financial and organisational reasons. Patients often have to wait more than 15-20 days for osteosynthesis fixation of their fracture. The direct consequence is that most patients suffer an osteomyelitis bone infection.
   

5. And even if patients can pay for their care financially; the prices in the health facilities are far too high for such a common problem, which is currently becoming a public health problem.
   

6. The economic impact of these breaks is crucial. Those affected are mostly young people (18-40 years old) and belong to the productive population that takes care of the family income. The absence or the loss of work of these pillars of the family due to illness over a long period of time, or worse, their permanent disability in the case of poor care, plunges the family into financial insecurity and a vicious circle of poverty that will affect future generations.

Objective of the campaign:

• raising awareness among the population and traditional healers about the negative impact of neglected or poorly managed fractures on the health of the population.
  

• to present the different surgical treatments that currently exist and should be used in case of complications that have already started.

• Training of doctors and nurses from Mbalmayo and the surrounding area through theoretical and practical courses on the emergency care of patients who have suffered a trauma.