The Cameroonian Government has been making significant progress in it fight against HIV diseases in the country.
It was gathered that the country was estimated to be home to 480 232 people living with virus in 2022, with 9905 new cases recorded that year.
However, a major public health problem, recent encouraging progress includes a 50% decrease in HIV prevalence among people aged 15 to 64 in the past 14 years, according to the most recent Demographic Health Survey 2018 (DHS). Prevalence fell from 5.4% in 2004, to 4.3% in 2011, and 2.7% in 2018.
According to Dr Hamsatou Hadja, permanent secretary of Cameroon’s National AIDS Control Committee, said that the decline is thanks to a focused strategy.
She said: “The fight against HIV is organized around a national vision, which is to put an end to AIDS as a threat to public health by 2030, by reducing new infections, deaths and stigma associated with HIV.”
Meanwhile, the country has been put on track to achieve the global “95-95-95” target: 95% of people with HIV know their status, 95% of those who know their status are on treatment, and 95% of those on antiretrovirals have a suppressed viral load. According to the Committee, the rates as of 2022 were 95.8%, 92.3% and 89.2% respectively.
World Health Organization (WHO) has supported Cameroon in the efforts to lower the HIV burden, including through training health workers. For instance, in 2022, WHO deployed HIV experts to 36 health facilities in 14 health districts in the country’s East and Littoral regions. Around 200 health workers received training on various aspects of HIV care. In addition, more than 20 000 people were screened for HIV and, of the 590 who tested positive, 545 were put on treatment.
