Dr. Françoise Ngono

Dr. Françoise Ngono is an internist at the Hôpital Général de Douala, one of Cameroon's largest and most active public hospitals and the principal referral centre for Cameroon's economic capital. Douala, as the country's most populous city and commercial hub, presents a distinctive medical profile: a dense urban population with high rates of hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and metabolic disorders, overlaid on a persistent infectious disease burden.

Over 15 years, Dr. Ngono has developed a specialty focus on cardiovascular medicine within internal medicine, particularly the management of hypertension and its complications. Hypertension is among the most prevalent non-communicable diseases in Douala's population, driven by urbanisation, salt-heavy diets, physical inactivity, and chronic psychosocial stress — and is a leading driver of stroke, heart failure, and chronic kidney disease in the region. Dr. Ngono manages hypertensive patients from initial diagnosis through long-term follow-up, including those presenting with established end-organ damage.

As a bilingual French- and English-speaking physician, Dr. Ngono serves patients from both of Cameroon's official language communities and is accessible to Cameroonian diaspora patients from anglophone and francophone backgrounds. She is an advocate for preventive cardiovascular care and participates in community hypertension awareness events in Douala.

Dr. Ngono completed her Doctorat en Médecine at the Faculté de Médecine et des Sciences Biomédicales of the Université de Yaoundé I. She undertook her internal medicine residency at the Hôpital Général de Yaoundé and at the Hôpital Général de Douala, earning her Diplôme de Spécialité en Médecine Interne. She subsequently completed a clinical training attachment at the Hôpital Bichat-Claude Bernard in Paris, France, focusing on cardiovascular medicine and heart failure, obtaining a Certificat de Formation en Cardiologie Clinique. She is a member of the Société Camerounaise de Médecine Interne and participates in the Pan-African Society of Cardiology's continuing education programmes.

Dr. Ngono provides comprehensive internal medicine consultations with a particular focus on cardiovascular and metabolic disease. She manages hypertension (including resistant hypertension), heart failure, atrial fibrillation, and lipid disorders. She performs detailed cardiovascular risk assessment and coordinates echocardiography, stress testing, and Holter monitoring referrals. She also manages type 2 diabetes with cardiovascular complications, stroke rehabilitation and secondary prevention, and HIV clinical care. Her infectious disease experience includes tuberculosis, malaria, and bacterial infections common in Douala's urban setting. She is competent in ECG interpretation, ambulatory blood pressure monitoring, and lumbar puncture.

Dr. Ngono has contributed to internal medicine research activities in Cameroon, co-authoring publications on hypertension prevalence and cardiovascular risk factors in Douala's urban population in collaboration with the Université de Douala Faculty of Medicine. She has presented at the Société Camerounaise de Médecine Interne's annual scientific meetings and at Pan-African Society of Cardiology congresses, sharing data relevant to cardiovascular disease management in Central African settings with limited specialist resources.

Dr. Ngono consults fluently in both French and English, making her accessible to the full range of Cameroon's diaspora community in France, the UK, Canada, and the United States. She is experienced in reviewing international medical records and European drug formularies, which is helpful when diaspora patients arrive with prescriptions from overseas physicians that require adaptation to locally available medications. The Hôpital Général de Douala serves patients from across Cameroon and the Central African region. Her cardiovascular expertise is particularly valued by diaspora returnees managing hypertension and heart disease diagnosed overseas.

Dr. Ngono is recognised within the Hôpital Général de Douala as a leading clinician in internal medicine and cardiovascular care. She is an active member of the Société Camerounaise de Médecine Interne and the Ordre National des Médecins du Cameroun, and has been commended for her contributions to hypertension awareness and cardiovascular prevention programmes in Douala. She is respected within Cameroon's medical community as a skilled clinician and patient advocate.