Cameroon
The demographic and health survey of Cameroon for 2004 (EDSC III - Enquête démographique et de santé du Cameroun) showed that the HIV/AIDS prevalence rate for the population in general is 5.5%. Women, with a prevalence rate of 6.8% have a clearly higher infection rate than men (4.1%). AIDS has become one of the primary causes of mortality in Cameroon, and there are some 240,000 orphans in the country.
Cameroon's response to HIV/AIDS and its consequences was established as early as 1986 with the creation of the National Committee against AIDS and the National Programme to fight AIDS. The Strategic Plan to take action on AIDS was launched in September 2000 by the Prime Minister, Head of Government.
Action on AIDS has also been incorporated in the National Strategy on the reduction of poverty. Of the population, 50.6% live below the poverty line and the epidemic only worsens the situation. The impact of the illness is severely felt in all sectors. Children and adolescents who have lost one or both of their parents, as well as women and girls are particularly vulnerable.
Cameroon has mobilized numerous resources to fight the epidemic, in particular through the Global Fund and the World Bank.
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Total Population (in thousands): 16,322 (2006)|
In November 2005, an AMICAALL Planning Workshop was held to develop a framework for action. This two-day workshop was a prelude to the official launching of the Cameroon chapter of the Alliance and an AMICAALL Programme in November 2005. The agreed upon framework of action called for expanding multisectoral responses to the epidemic within municipalities and communities to enable a coordinated effort to enhance local government capacity to respond and scale-up decentralised services and programmes. AMICAALL activities that had been already initiated before the launch include: preparation of municipal profiles and HIV service directories in five municipalities. With the support of AMICAALL Cameroon and the Mayor, an 18-member Municipal HIV Team (MHT) has been established in the Bamendjou municipality during 2006. The MHT was launched at a two-day workshop that included the municipality’s political, traditional and religious leaders, community groups, as well as a representative from UNDP/Cameroon. A team from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) spent two months in Cameroon during 2006 working with local government authorities, as part of an ongoing public-private partnership with PwC and UN APP. PwC provided technical assistance to enhance local government management capacity to scale up responses to HIV at the local level. |
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