Breaking barriers: how PETVISIDAME brings healthcare closer to the Baka people
In Abong-Mbang, the Baka people, once excluded from healthcare, now benefit from the PETVISIDAME project, backed by UNICEF and the Government over the past five years.
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The Baka, an Indigenous people living primarily in the forest, are among the most vulnerable populations in Cameroon. Nomadic and residing in scattered, remote camps, they face both geographic and economic exclusion. Access to healthcare is nearly nonexistent. Pregnant women rarely attend prenatal consultations, children are not vaccinated, and modern medicine often remains out of reach.
“These are populations who live far, very far into the forest, in unstable camps. You have to mobilise them well in advance before you can reach them.”
The PETVISIDAME project has provided a tailored response to the specific needs of the Baka people. The main challenge: bringing this population out of health invisibility. To achieve this, the project implemented mobile outreach strategies health teams that travel directly to the camps to provide care.
These strategies have enabled the delivery of essential services on-site, including vaccinations, prenatal consultations, HIV testing, and nutritional awareness. Special setups were designed to ensure a minimum standard of care, even deep in the forest.
A particular effort was made to remove financial barriers: in 2024, 300 pregnant Baka women received free health vouchers, allowing them to access maternity care. This measure had an immediate impact.
“I can assure you that many of these women didn’t even have 6,000 CFA francs. Thanks to the health vouchers, they were able to attend prenatal consultations and give birth in safe facilities.”
Aware of the Baka people's strong attachment to traditional medicine, the project did not seek to oppose it to modern medicine, but rather to integrate traditional intermediaries into the healthcare system. Local birth attendants and healers were trained to recognise danger signs, refer urgent cases, and participate in epidemiological surveillance.
The impact of these interventions is now measurable. Vaccination coverage has increased, pregnant women who were once invisible are now being monitored, and HIV cases are better diagnosed and managed. Women enrolled in the program are even becoming awareness ambassadors within their households, helping to transform health behaviours.
Community mobilisation, coordination among stakeholders (health, social affairs, education), and the cultural adaptation of interventions have helped reintegrate the Baka into the conventional healthcare landscape.
“The first major victory is that we now know where the needs are, who has been left behind, and how to reach them effectively.”
The PETVISIDAME project has shown that the health exclusion of the Baka is not inevitable. By combining listening, mobility, inclusion, and coordination, it has made the invisible visible and brought healthcare to places it had never reached. To make these outreach strategies sustainable, support must be strengthened, essential healthcare must be made universally free, and proximity-based strategies must be institutionalised.
“When we remove financial and geographic barriers, the Baka have access to healthcare. We just need to bring the services to where they are.”
The project’s experience demonstrates that political will, cultural adaptation, and logistical innovation can sustainably reduce inequalities in access to healthcare.
