CHRC frees patient detained in hospital over unpaid bills

By Daniel D.

The Cameroon Human Rights Commission (CHRC) has secured the release of Cécile Noyep, a patient detained at the Yaoundé Central Hospital for 62 days over her inability to pay the medical bill.

This was on Tuesday, May 28, during a meeting held by the President of the commission, Prof. James Mouangue Kobila, and the Minister of Public Health, Dr. Manaouda Malachie.

The conclave was centered around human rights violations committed by hospitals, which detain patients for being unable to pay bills.

During the meeting, both institutions looked for ways of upholding human rights to the recurring problem of hospitals detaining patients for non-payment of bills while safeguarding the financial equilibrium of hospital facilities.

“After exerting every effort to secure the release of Cécile Noyep, who had been detained at Yaoundé Central Hospital for 62 days due to non-payment of medical bills, Prof. James Mouangue Kobila recommended that MINSANTE implements a long-term solution to address this recurring violation of human rights,” CHRC said in a statement.

The commission proposed that MIMSANTE could organize expanded inspection visits to all hospitals to create an inventory of cases of patients detained for medical bills.

“The two parties have agreed on the appropriate measures to be taken immediately and in the medium term to ensure that the financial stability of medical institutions is not jeopardized by patients unable to pay or acting in bad faith,” the CHRC further stated.

The Human Rights Commission has targeted a problem that is rampant in the country.

It is common to see patients hanging around hospital verandas for days, weeks and months after being discharged.

Some of these patients usually owe hospitals several hundreds of francs, which the hospital cannot afford to lose by letting the patients go.

However, detaining patients in hospitals over unpaid bills is illegal, according to the CHRC. Human rights experts say it constitutes forced detention.

“Living in hospital detention after receiving treatment constitutes an economic, social, and psychological burden for patients,” said the US National Library of Medicine, adding that apart from detaining patients, Cameroonian hospitals also detain the corpses of patients who die with unpaid medical bills until their family members pay off the debt.

Hospital detention occurs not only in Cameroon but in other countries as well. 

According to the International Federation of Social Workers, hospital detention is common in countries that have major gaps in their healthcare funding systems and that have not implemented health insurance. 

“Health facilities receive too little and unreliable state funding for their services,” it added.

In Cameroon, several cases of patients being denied treatment for lack of money have been recorded. 

Meanwhile, authorities in the country have said hospitals should not demand payment before treating patients.

©Mimi Mefo Info

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