#COVID19 : Entrepreneurs and Health Experts to cushion fallouts
Entrepreneurs, and health personnel have partnered to identify COVID19-related problems and seek solutions in the education, technological, entrepreneurial sectors.
Project managers, education stakeholders and government representatives discussed how to tackle the impact of #COVID19 in Cameroon in a one-day conference recently organized by KMERTECH in Yaoundé.
KMERTECH is a network that groups incubators and enterprise support organizations in Cameroon.
In three workshops on health, education and technology, participants identified the needs of different sectors.
KAMERTECH will soon launch a competition for startups to provide solutions to the needs that were identified during the one day conference. Winners will receive prizes worth between FCFA 3millon – 10 million Francs.
The role of Entrepreneurs response to COVID19
The impact of #COVID19 in Cameroon has been overwhelming in every sector, especially the country’s economy. This is why entrepreneurs are seeking ways of cushioning the effects of the pandemic on the economy.
Motchebong Cedric, Secretary General of KAMERTECH and founder of BOS Group says the solutions to the COVID19 fallouts should be “made in Cameroon solutions”.
KAMERTECH is working towards executing a 15-month project in Technology-Innovation-Entrepreneurship (TIE) in collaboration with the European Union.
But, the Secretary General of KAMERTECH says the association “wants to see how digital, entrepreneurship and innovation can be a strength in our response to the impact of COVID19 in Cameroon”.
#COVID19 figures keep surging. New variants are also being discovered, the most recent being the Omicron discovered in South Africa. To tackle the growing impact that comes with the pandemic, health experts say digital entrepreneurs can greatly contribute to educating the public to enable them take informed decisions, especially with regards to vaccination.
Dr. Joseph Fokam, Epidemiologist in the Public Health Ministry says “In the field of innovative diagnostics, we need cost effective tools for COVID19 diagnosis. In terms of communication and data management, we need simple a data base that is really adapted to our context. Digital entrepreneurs can boost communication that can improve vaccine adherence in our context”.
He is also of the opinion that digital entrepreneurs can effectively fight misinformation which has stood badly affected communication on the pandemic.
“Social media is highly dominated by misinformation. So we need a highly innovative approach that will overcome this misinformation and provide the right information and support for people to turn up for vaccination”.
Entrepreneurs and health experts are therefore looking forward to a fruitful partnership that will provide relevant and applicable solutions to the socio-economic effects of #COVID19.
Kathy Neba Sina