MEDICAL SEMINAR IN BERLIN: THE DIASPORA COMMITS
On Saturday, April 18, 2026, the Embassy of Cameroon in Berlin hosted an important seminar organized by the National Order of Physicians of Cameroon (ONMC), centered on the theme: “Role of the medical diaspora in Cameroon’s healthcare system.”
The event brought together a large community of Cameroonian doctors from Germany and Europe, in the presence of the President of the ONMC, Dr. FONKOUA Rodolphe, who traveled specially from Yaoundé, as well as His Excellency the Ambassador of Cameroon to Germany. Many participants also took part in the discussions online.
The proceedings were introduced by Dr. Alain NGUENTO, representative of the ONMC in the Federal Republic of Germany, whose advocacy highlighted the challenges faced by diaspora doctors in carrying out medical missions in Cameroon, as well as the need for better institutional support.
The various presentations underscored the significant potential of the medical diaspora, particularly in the areas of training, skills transfer, and improving healthcare delivery in Cameroon. In this regard, Dr. SIEMENI presented initiatives led by the Heart-Beat network, illustrated by the recent successful implantation of a heart valve (TAVI) in Douala, performed by Cameroonian specialists based in Germany.
Dr. IVO, an oncologist, for his part, emphasized the scale of the healthcare shortage in Cameroon and the need to strengthen collaborations between local doctors and the diaspora, notably through the use of new technologies to improve training and diagnostic quality.
The discussions also addressed the structural challenges of the Cameroonian healthcare system, particularly regarding medical training and practitioners’ working conditions, while highlighting the need to strengthen synergies between local stakeholders and those in the diaspora.
A highlight of the seminar was the address by the President of the ONMC, who provided an unflinching assessment of the challenges facing Cameroonian medicine and issued a call for increased mobilization of the diaspora for the creation of centers of excellence in healthcare.
The presentation of the forum of Cameroonian doctors in Germany by Dr. KONO KONO, active for over 30 years in organizing free medical campaigns in Cameroon, also illustrated the concrete and lasting commitment of the diaspora.
The exchanges between the panelists and the audience were particularly rich, confirming the ONMC’s desire to strengthen its collaboration with Cameroonian doctors living abroad. In this regard, CAMFOMEDICS expressed the wish to see the President of the Order regularly participate in its activities in Germany.
This seminar thus constituted a constructive and promising platform for exchange, paving the way for a lasting strengthening of the medical diaspora’s contribution to the development of Cameroon’s healthcare system.
