Mitigating HIV/AIDS: Actors Strategise

As a means of reducing the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in the society, the Parliamentary Network for Health Promotion and the Valorisation of Traditional Medicine organised a capacity building seminar at the National Assembly with the goal of mobilising response mechanisms against this communicable viral disease. The seminar was chaired on behalf of the House Speaker, by the Deputy Speaker, Théophile Baoro, on June 17, 2026 who in his opening remarks encouraged concerted efforts and greater financial allocation to combating HIV/AIDS. Statistics presented by the Permanent Secretary of the National AIDS Control Committee, Dr Fokam Joseph indicate that Cameroon has a little over half a million people living with HIV in a context where efforts in fighting this disease have led to a 50 per cent drop in the infection rate. “For example, in 2024, there was about a 5.5 per cent prevalence rate, and today it is around 2.6 per cent prevalence in the age groups between 15 to 49 years, which shows the efforts made by the government and partners to slow the spread of the epidemic in the country. Incidence has also decreased in terms of the number of new infections. This decrease is due to the fact that treatment is provided to a large majority of people living with HIV in the country, he explained. He added that almost 90 per cent of the people tested who are on antiretroviral medication have been reached and about 95 per cent are responding positively to treatment. The Permanent Secretary was also clear on the fact that there are still some people in communities who have not been reached. To him, the goal is continuing with outreach, communicate with people, break down the stigma so that they can freely get an HIV test and also benefit from the life expectancy that becomes normal when taking antiretroviral medication. To attain this, th...