A few organisational health institutions have erected in
Central Africa to promote partnership, training, economic and health
development in member countries of the organisation.
? The OCEAC
The OCEAC (Organisation for the fight against endemic
diseases in central Africa) was established in 1963 in Yaoundé, the
headquarter of the institution. The organisation regroups six central African
states such as Gabon, Congo, Central African Republic, Cameroun, Chad and
Equatorial Guinea which lately joined the group. The organisation's major
priorities are to organise public health strategies and programmes, to take
part in education and training program of medical employees as well as to
organise research projects carried out by national institutions in member
states. In addition, the organisation seeks to share medical knowledge and
skills among health service providers in the region and to enhance public
health awareness so to improve emergency health responses in member countries
of the organisation. The OCEAC is currently involved in several health projects
in the central African region such as: The Sub-Regional Program for HIV and
AIDS and the Harmonisation Program for Pharmaceutical Policy (Organe
exécutif de la CEMAC, 2012).
? CEMAC
The CEMAC (Central African Economic and Monetary Community)
was established in 1983. It aims to support economic growth, cooperation and to
improve living conditions of people in member countries. The organisational
main objectives are to create a Central African Common Market and to enhance
public health systems in the region. In 2009, CEMAC made a contribution of 23
million Euros with the aid of Germany to fight HIV/Aids spread in Central
Africa (Bourgarel, 2010:11).
? The CAMES
The CAMES (Conseil Africain et Malgache pour l' Enseignement
Supérieur) is perceived as an intergovernmental institution composed of
17 African states. It was established in 1968 to regulate the manner in which
health institutions as well as
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universities in emerging African states were run. The
organisation's objectives are to sustain partnership and communication, to
promote a scientific and cultural collaboration, as well as to ensure
dissemination of all academic and research publications between member
countries. Additionally, health employees and researchers in member states are
consistently examined by CAMES before they can be promoted in their workplace
(CAMES, 2012).
? The CIESPAC
The CIESPAC (Centre Inter- Etats d'Enseignement
Supérieur en Santé Publique d' Afrique Centrale) is based in
Yaoundé, Cameroon. Its objective is to provide public health teaching to
medical employees and executives in member countries. The organisation offers
various programmes such as the professional diploma in public health primarily
targeted at hospital executives. The course offers advanced management skills
to medical managers to transform health systems in the region.An audit
regarding the success of these three organisations was presented during the
seventh Summit of the Central African region in 2008, in Equatorial Guinea. The
results indicated that there was an increase of the availability of medical
facilities in the region; the number of hospitals expanded from 6 per cent in
1990 to 11 per cent in 2008 (Bourgarel, 2010:11).
Furthermore, these organisations also enabled scientific and
medical research between some regional countries. This resulted in the creation
of the Elf Rafa Medical Centre in 2006 in Libreville, in Gabon. The facility
was established with the alliance between Gabon and its direct geographic
neighbour Cameroon to undertake research in order to tackle the spread of
malaria in the region (Programme Economique Régional de la CEMAC,
2009:12). However, despite these improvements, there are still concerns about
the quality of medical services in most central African countries. This is
because there have been little research on patient satisfaction within medical
organisations to pinpoint problems related to poor service performance (Health,
2007:20).
Given these facts, the present research would be necessary to
identify and address issues related to poor service quality.
