An Assessment of “Cheque Sante” as a Policy Instrument in Cameroon

Abstract

Health checks (“cheque sante”) have been used throughout the developing world including countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. This system has gained prominence in Africa as a mechanism to improve access to essential healthcare services, especially among vulnerable population and are designed to subsidize the cost of healthcare services for targeted populations, typically the poor and underserved. In Cameroon, the health cheque policy or voucher system which was launched in 2015 aimed at reducing maternal and infant mortality in the sahel regions. The main objective of this paper is to assess “cheque sante” as a policy instrument to combat high neo-natal rate in the priority regions of Cameroon. As tool of analysis, the group model was used to examine the said policy instrument. A mixed method of data collection was adopted consisting of both qualitative and quantitative data collection using the descriptive design. Data for this study was collected from both primary and secondary sources. The primary source involved key informant interviews specifically beneficiaries of the project. To further assess the health check in Cameroon, personal observations, reports from service providers and researchers’ were adopted while the secondary source was obtained from documentary sources. A myriad of actors both nationally and internationally are involved in the successful implementation of the health check as an instrument to solve the infant mortality rate. The “Cheque sante” policy instrument has increased access to maternal and child care services in the priority regions yet an extension, in particular to the East, North West and South West is imminent and envisaged in all regions within the framework of UHC.