Minister launches survey to guide fight against HIV nationwide.

The event took place in the presence of the US Ambassador to Cameroon, H.E Christopher John Lamora. Also present were other stakeholders in the health sector.

The project is tagged: “Cameroon Population-based HIV Impact Assessment 2024” CAMPHIA 2024. 

The survey seeks to give in-depth information on the evolution of the epidemic in the country as well as help government assess the rate of infection.

CAMPHIA 2024 is being implemented by the Ministry of Public Health. This is with the technical support of the National Institute of Statistics, NIS; Cameroon Baptist Convention Health Board, CBC, and ICAP at Columbia University.

Other local partners in the project are the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention. The project enjoys funding from the US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, PEPFAR.

Being the second the government is carrying out, Minister Manaouda said the survey will bring in fresh data on the state of the national HIV response. 

He noted that the exercise will make it possible to assess the effectiveness of prevention and care services. Dr Manaouda also said the survey will further help in the revision of the national AIDS control program.

He remarked that: “People who test positive will be linked to immediate access to life-saving HIV treatment”.

The minister added that: “The project is also serving as a springboard for strengthening national public health institutions, including the National Public Health Laboratory…”.

Statistics from the Demographic and Health Survey, published in 2018, the minister said, put the HIV prevalence rate in Cameroon among people within the age group of 15 to 49 years at is 2.7%.

Enter US Ambassador 

For US Ambassador to Cameroon, H.E Chrispher John Lamora, the project marks a milestone as it will boost “our collective understanding of the HIV epidemic in Cameroon, much like it did six years ago”. 

The diplomat said it is important to assess the virus to take action regarding the future.

He, however, declared that: “The United States Government is proud to have funded CAMPHIA 2024 through our PEPFAR program, with an investment exceeding 11 billion FCFA. And while that figure may seem impressive, money alone cannot get the job done”.

CAMPHIA 2024, the diplomat disclosed, will see HIV testing being conducted for close to 30,000 people across all 10 regions of the country.

He restated that the US has in the last years invested nearly 400 billion FCFA in Cameroon through PEPFAR to fight against HIV/AIDS.

CAMPHIA 2024 brings new data

According to the Permanent Secretary of the National AIDS Control Committee, Dr Fokam Joseph, the fight against HIV still has to continue. 

Dr Fokam talked of a concentrated epistemology in adults and youth between the ages of 20 and 24.

He declared that the highest burden of infection occurs among people of between 25 and 29 years. These statistics, he said, made the target of the survey relevant.

Dr Fokam also underscored that: “We equally have high rate of mother to child transmission of HIV which is till around 18%. We hope that thanks to the survey, those households where we don't have data, we are going to intervene”.

CAMPHIA 2024 in summary 

The survey seeks to assess the prevalence and incidence of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus, HIV infection in Cameroon. The survey target adults aged 15 to 20.

15,360 randomly selected households will be sampled while approximately 28,405 people will be interviewed.  

The results of the CAMPHIA 2024 survey are expected to strengthen the fight against HIV/AIDS and achieve the UNAIDS 95-95-95 targets. Officials hope it will contribute to the elimination of HIV/AIDS in Cameroon by 2030.

This story was first published in The Guardian Post issue N0:3187 of Friday August 02, 2024