Email Updates RSS
Search
Dr. Georges Bwelle Aids in the Fight for Rural Healthcare

Encouraging Development in Africa

By IGI Global on Nov 5, 2013
The average number of doctors in the west African country of Cameroon is approximately one for every 5,000 people. The life expectancy for inhabitants of this remote location is about 51 years. According to Our Africa, Cameroon bears an abundance of natural resources and good agricultural conditions, but poverty is rampant, with 36% of children under the age of 5 suffering from stunted growth due to lack of adequate nutrition.

Cameroon citizens living in this seasonally wet climate deal with the constant threat of malaria and cholera. Less than 40% of the population has access to piped drinking water, and less than half have proper sanitation facilities.

Georges Bwelle has dealt with these issues firsthand. For 21 years, he watched his father slip in and out of consciousness after an automobile accident in which he suffered a broken arm. Due to lack of healthcare, the break led to an infection, which eventually spread to his brain, causing a hematoma that would affect him for the rest of his life. Georges spent years taking his father to overcrowded clinics and hospitals, getting whatever treatment he could.

“Seeing his father and so many of his countrymen suffer, Bwelle was determined to do something about it. He became a doctor himself, working as a vascular surgeon in Yaounde's Central Hospital. And he started a nonprofit, ASCOVIME, that travels into rural areas on weekends to provide free medical care. Since 2008, he and his group of volunteers have helped nearly 32,000 people.” (Trekking through mud, rivers and jungle to provide free medical care, CNN)

Once a week, Dr. Bwelle and about 30 other volunteers and medical practitioners pack up vans with medical supplies and trek through whatever conditions they meet to visit remote villages in need of assistance. Offering free medical care to hundreds of patients all over Cameroon, Dr. Bwelle and his crew have administered over 700 free surgeries in the past year. Dr. Georges Bwelle is one of the top 10 chosen for CNN's Hero of the Year, an award that will provide the hero with the most votes $250,000 to continue their extraordinary work. Vote for Dr. Bwelle at CNN Hero of the Year.

The development of solutions to support citizens of remote areas such as Cameroon is vitally important to Africa’s welfare. More than 218 million people in Africa suffer from extreme poverty. Despite its often mismanaged economy, Africa remains the third largest continent in land mass and population. It continues to offer unexploited business opportunities for entrepreneurs, global corporations, and institutions. Creating awareness of this un-tapped resource creates direct support for Dr. Bwelle in the advancement of rural areas in Africa such as Cameroon.

Emerging Business Opportunities in Africa: Market Entry, Competitive Strategy, and the Promotion of Foreign Direct Investments presents the basic business modeling for developing appropriate strategies in exploiting business opportunities in the emerging economy in Africa. This book offers insight into the challenges and successes aiming to encourage researchers and students of business in creating a value for doing business in Africa.

Written by Christopher O. Gekonge of Doing Business in Africa, a non-profit company out of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, this book is part of the Research Essentials Collection; a series offering succinct discussions on niche topics in a wide variety of subjects. Sized and priced appropriately, these concise, advanced, and timely resources will be perfect for supplementary course usage, targeted towards instructors and students, as well as the independent researcher looking for the most recent and innovative research in their field.

View an interview with author and African business researcher Christopher Gekonge.
Browse for more posts in:
Business and ManagementHealthcareMedical, Healthcare, and Life SciencesBusiness & Organizational ResearchHealthcare Information SystemsHuman Resources DevelopmentBook SeriesBooks & E-BooksInfoSci-BooksResearch EssentialsMiddle East & AfricaNorth AmericaAuthor NewsResources for InstructorsResources for Researchers

No comments Comments

Log in or sign up to comment.
Be the first to comment!

More from IGI Global

Sep 23, 2024 IGI Global’s Dedication to the Academic Community
Review our past (free) webinars in support of Peer Review Week.
IGI GlobalRead More
Books & E-BooksJournalsWebinarPeer Review Week
0
Sep 20, 2024 Q&A With Prof. Hui-Nee AuYong
In this digital era, the risk of fraud and corruption is now a major concern for people everywhere, leaving individuals desperate for a solution.
IGI GlobalRead More
0
Sep 19, 2024 Q&A With Editor Hamed Taherdoost
With the rapid growth in the world of FinTech, it can be hard for users to stay up to date with the most recent innovations.
IGI GlobalRead More
Computer Science and Information TechnologyBooks & E-Books
Sep 19, 2024 Over 300 of IGI Global’s 2024 Copyright Books Now Indexed in Scopus
Scopus continues to recognize IGI Global books for their high-quality and importance within the academic community. Learn what this prestigious recognition means for the publisher and the experts behind these books.
IGI GlobalRead More
Books & E-BooksAwards & RecognitionReviews & Indexing
Sep 19, 2024 Are You at Increased Risk of Parkinson’s Disease from Pollution?
Researchers are finding correlations between environmental factors and the development and worsening of Parkinson's Disease.
IGI GlobalRead More
Medical, Healthcare, and Life SciencesEnvironmental, Agricultural, and Physical SciencesBooks & E-BooksResearch Trends
0
Sep 13, 2024 Stephanie Kew Yen Nee, a Young Physicist, Discusses the Potential Future of Physics
Check out this video of chapter author, Stephanie Kew Yen Nee highlighting their recent research and discoveries regarding electromagnetic wave control.
IGI GlobalRead More
Materials ScienceBooks & E-BooksChaptersPresentations
Sep 12, 2024 Could Reading Books be the Ultimate Therapy?
Your mental health and wellbeing may improve with a break from technology.
IGI GlobalRead More
Social Sciences and HumanitiesBooks & E-BooksResearch Trends
0
Sep 11, 2024 Navigating the New Normal: Insight from the Experts
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a significant shift towards remote work for employees globally.
IGI GlobalRead More
Business and ManagementBusiness & Organizational ResearchBooks & E-Books
Sep 6, 2024 Submit to the Upcoming International Journal of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Medicine and Healthcare (IJAIMH)
IGI Global is pleased to announce a call for papers for the International Journal of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Medicine and Healthcare (IJAIMH), an esteemed publication dedicated to advancing research and scholarship in medicine and healthcare.
IGI GlobalRead More
Medical, Healthcare, and Life SciencesJournalsArticlesOpen Access
Sep 5, 2024 Even Elon Musk Thinks We Need to Regulate AI
The use of generative AI to create harmful content, including illegal child abuse images has raised concerns among law enforcement and child protection agencies. Tech company Mogul Elon Musk agrees that regulation of the quickly advancing field is necessary.
IGI GlobalRead More
Computer Science and Information TechnologyGovernment and LawSocial Sciences and HumanitiesArtificial IntelligenceBooks & E-BooksResearch Trends
First Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10  ... Next Last