Cameroon Medical Council Bans ‘Teleconsultation’, But – – —

The Cameroon Medical Council has in a communiqué signed by its President, Dr Rudolphe Fonkoua, informed members of the medical profession and the public, that the practice termed, “Teleconsultation”, which simply put, is the consultation by a patient of a medical doctor by telephone, has been banned in the country.

It should be noted that a startup project was developed with good intention by a group of young Cameroonians, to link patients, especially those in rural areas that don’t have easy access to medical doctors, to be able to consult medical doctors belonging to a platform. The project or platform dubbed “Mediphone”, was hosted by Orange Cameroun. It should be noted that a large majority of Cameroonians, especially those in the rural areas, find it very difficult to have access to medical practitioners.

But the Cameroon Medical Council says the practice of consultation by telephone in Cameroon dubbed “Mediphone’, does not respect the classical approach or norms of the medical profession as regard consultation. The Cameroon Medical Council contacted Orange Cameroun on the issue of the ‘Mediphone” platform that the telephony company was hosting in good faith. The Medical Council has announced in its communiqué that  following the intervention of the Council, Orange Cameroun stopped hosting the ‘Mediphone’ platform as from August 1, 2024.

But the Cameroon Medical Council in prohibiting ‘Teleconsultation’, is not saying that Telemedicine is a bad thing, or that Cameroon will not be part of Telemedicine which is increasingly being practice the world over, in this digital age. The Cameroon Medical Council says the problem with telemedicine in Cameroon, is that it has not yet been regulated.  In the communiqué, the Cameroon Medical Council discloses that the Council is currently concerting with the supervisory authority (Ministry of Public Health), on a text that will regulate the practice of Telemedicine in the country.