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From Crisis to Hope: CIMA Care's Live Television Breakthrough in Northwest Cameroon |
October 08, 2025
Reading Time: 13 Minutes
In the heart of Bamenda, where Star TV's Sunday Live program reaches thousands of families across Northwest Cameroon, a powerful story of digital transformation unfolds. Against the backdrop of regional crisis and healthcare challenges, CIMA Care's innovative approach to child immunization takes center stage in a compelling 11-minute television interview that captures the essence of a grassroots health revolution.
From Crisis to Hope:
CIMA Care’s Live Television Breakthrough in Northwest Cameroon
Host Sylvie introduces CIMA Care's mission against the backdrop of Northwest Cameroon's healthcare challenges during the regional crisis.
When Crisis Meets Innovation
The television studio buzzes as host Sylvie delivers a stark reality check that resonates throughout Northwest Cameroon. Her words paint a vivid picture of a region in crisis: "With the crisis in the Northwest region, where a lot of people were preoccupied with running for safety... they had to forget about their vaccination calendar. At the end of the day, we have mortality rates being high because of a lack of vaccination."
This opening segment captures the heartbreaking paradox facing communities torn between survival and healthcare. Parents, displaced by conflict and consumed with immediate safety concerns, lost track of their children's vaccination schedules. The simple act of remembering appointment dates became a luxury when families struggled to keep track of many other concerns. Yet from this crisis emerged an innovative solution that would transform how families engage with child healthcare across the region.
The Face of Change
A warm smile lights up the studio as Yayah Emerencia, PhD student at Texila American University and CIMA Care ambassador, takes her place across from host Sylvie. Her presence embodies the bridge between academic excellence and grassroots healthcare delivery. "CIMA Care, from the word 'CIMA,' is the Children Immunization App," she explains with the confidence of someone who has witnessed firsthand the transformation of healthcare delivery.
Her explanation is elegantly simple yet profound: healthcare providers register mothers' contact numbers during their first clinic visit, creating a digital lifeline that ensures no child falls through the immunization safety net. "We send SMSs to them to remind them of the vaccination date... and to remind them of forgotten vaccination dates." In this moment, viewers witness the human face behind CIMA Care's digital innovation, not just technology for technology's sake, but purposeful innovation driven by compassionate healthcare professionals.
Yayah Emerencia explains CIMA Care's SMS reminder system to thousands of viewers across Northwest Cameroon.
Why Every Vaccination Matters
Yayah emphasizes the critical importance of timely vaccination and CIMA Care's proven impact on reducing missed immunizations
The conversation takes on critical urgency as Yayah articulates what every parent needs to understand: "When a child misses vaccination, the child is not protected against that infection and can easily contract that infection, which can lead to a pandemic or an endemic." Her voice carries the weight of medical expertise and maternal concern, speaking directly to viewers who may not fully grasp the cascading consequences of missed immunizations.
This segment transforms abstract medical concepts into immediate, personal reality. The discussion reveals CIMA Care's measurable impact: "We see that the uptake of vaccination has improved, and we have very few people who miss their vaccines." Here, television viewers witness not just theoretical benefits but concrete results: fewer children vulnerable to preventable diseases, stronger community immunity, and parents empowered with the tools they need to protect their families.
Yayah explains CIMA Care's comprehensive approach, incorporating UNICEF and UNODC parenting guidance alongside vaccination reminders.
Beyond Reminders, A Comprehensive Support System
The interview reaches its most compelling moment as Yayah reveals CIMA Care's true scope: "This digital tool is actually more than I would say... we have messages on parenting skills and messages on the care of the baby. These messages are actually developed by UNICEF and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNDOC)."
Her explanation resonates with particular power as she addresses the reality of teenage pregnancy in the region: "These girls don't actually know how to take care of babies." This segment transforms CIMA Care from a simple reminder service into a comprehensive support ecosystem that addresses the complex challenges facing young mothers in conflict-affected regions. The program's three-year journey across four health centers—Azire Integrated Health Center, Bamenda Regional Hospital, Mulang Integrated Health Center, and Atuakom Integrated Health Center—demonstrates systematic expansion driven by proven results rather than theoretical promises.
Real Stories, Real Impact
The most powerful television moments come when narrations become stories, and this segment delivers exactly that transformation. Yayah shares intimate glimpses of CIMA Care's daily impact:"Sometimes they come to the clinic; the mothers bring their babies. They say, "Auntie, I had received some medication, so I couldn't bring my child for vaccination that day."
Her narrative captures the authentic voices of mothers who have experienced CIMA Care's support: "But now that the SMS and the date are available on their phone, they say, 'I can vaccinate my child today.'" The segment builds to a crescendo of measurable success: "The vaccination uptake has greatly improved... We only have a few cases of missed vaccinations." Even when challenges arise—such as lost phones, family emergencies, or travel to remote areas—CIMA Care's system adapts, with healthcare workers reminding parents that vaccination services are available wherever they may find themselves.
Yayah shares inspiring success stories of mothers whose children's health has been transformed through CIMA Care's digital support system.
The Digital Revolution in Healthcare
The interview concludes with Yayah explaining how CIMA Care's digital innovation reduces the burden on healthcare workers while strengthening community health systems.
The interview concludes with a vision that extends far beyond individual success stories. Yayah's final insights capture the transformative power of digital innovation in healthcare delivery: "CIMA has also come to reduce the burden of work on all the health workers. At first, you need to look through your registers to see if this child has not come. You need to send a community health worker to the community to look for this person. But with CIMA care, with just a message, you get through to the parent."
This closing segment embodies the essence of sustainable healthcare transformation: technology that empowers rather than replaces human connection and systems that strengthen rather than strain healthcare infrastructure. As Sylvie acknowledges the "digital world" where "everything is evolving," viewers witness not just technological advancement but purposeful evolution that serves the most fundamental human need: protecting our children's health and ensuring our communities' future.
A Television Moment That Transforms Understanding
This Star TV Sunday Live interview represents more than just media coverage; it captures a pivotal moment in the evolution of healthcare in Northwest Cameroon. Through 11 minutes of compelling television, viewers across the region witnessed how CIMA Care transforms abstract digital health concepts into a tangible, life-saving reality for families navigating crisis.
From Dr. Cornelius Chebo's regional coordination to Yayah Emerencia's grassroots implementation, from UNICEF's evidence-based parenting guidance to UNODC's family support frameworks, the interview weaves together the comprehensive ecosystem that makes CIMA Care's 23% vaccination improvement and more in Cameroon not just a statistic, but a testament to what becomes possible when innovation meets genuine human requirements.
As host, Sylvie concluded:
"Every health facility out there should ensure that they get their personnel trained on how to use this app... so the children will be vaccinated, and then we are sure of a healthy community."