Cameroon

The Constitution does not include a right to health.

The Constitution does not provide specific provisions regarding the mandate for health. However, it specifies the areas for which a law is needed (art. 26). These include areas influencing health and the performance of health systems (e.g., laws regarding rights, guarantees and duties of citizens including social protection regime, organisation of the Administration including organization and competencies for local authorities, financial matters including budget and taxes, education, etc.).

The vision of the country for health is articulated in a legal instrument. Specifically, the law 96/03 ("Loi N°96/03 du 4 Janvier 1996") establishes the general framework for the state's action in the health sector in Cameroon.

The primary goal of the national health policy, as stated in Article 2, is to enhance the health status of the population by ensuring greater access to integrated and quality healthcare for everyone with the full participation of communities in managing and financing health activities.

Key objectives include integrating healthcare at all system levels, rationalizing the management of health resources, ensuring the accessibility of essential medicines, and promoting community involvement in health management and financing (Articles 3 and 4).

The policy is guided by principles such as universal accessibility, rationalization of health infrastructures, protection of vulnerable groups, and the promotion of preventive medicine. It emphasizes collaboration between public, private, and traditional sectors, and supports decentralized management and operational health research to mobilize additional resources and control health expenditures (Articles 3 and 4).

The main goal of the "Stratégie Sectorielle de Santé 2016-2027" is to improve the health status of the population by ensuring universal access to quality health services for all social strata by 2035, with full community participation (page 67, section 5.3.1).

The strategy identifies several strategic axes and objectives including promoting health behavior (axis 1), reducing the incidence and prevalence of preventable diseases (axis 2), reducing maternal and child mortality (axis 3), strengthening the health system (axis 4), and enhancing governance and strategic management in the health sector (axis 5) (pages 70-74).

The document references several laws and regulations in its background and situation analysis sections. For instance, it mentions the law N° 96/03 of January 4, 1996, which serves as a framework law in the health sector, aiming to improve the health status of the population through increased accessibility to integrated and quality care (page 65). Additionally, the document refers to the decentralization law of July 22, 2004, and the decree 2010/0246 which outline the transfer of competencies and resources to municipalities, including the construction, equipment, and management of Integrated Health Centers (CSI) (page 1). It also points to decree 2013/093 governing the organisation of the Ministry of Health to highlight the establishment of a Division of Operational Health Research) (page 39).

Throughout the strategy, several references are found to legal and regulatory challenges. A general observation made is that the legal framework is marked by numerous regulatory acts that are sometimes conflicting, inconsistent, and outdated, due to the non-compliance with the legal drafting process by health system actors and their lack of awareness of existing regulations (page 47, 50,51). Furthermore some instruments are not implemented or outdated. For example, the law nº2003/014 governing blood transfusion suffers from outdated regulations, insufficient resources, lack of accreditation and national laboratory networks, and an uncreated National Blood Transfusion Center; the decrees 63/DF/141 and 62/DF/62 governing pricing of medical acts and care in the public and private sectors are outdated leading to discrepancies in prices and occasional violations of these regulations (page 47).

Lastly, the strategy emphasizes the need to strengthen the regulatory framework in a number of areas including community participation in health, pharmaceutical reforms, professional orders, organ transplant, service delivery, health security etc. (pages 62, 75-76, 111).