Reduction of HIV seroprevalence in the Northwest Province of Cameroon:

APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Magdaline Mayer, MD¹, Pius Tih Muffih, PhD, MPH², Eveline Mboh², Thomas Welty, MD, MPH², and David Steffen, MSN, DrPH³. (1) AIDS Control Program, Northwest Provincial Department of Health, Bamenda, Cameroon, 237-708-4848, madomayer@yahoo.co.uk, (2) Cameroon Baptist Convention Health Board, PO Box 1, Bamenda, Cameroon, (3) Public Health Leadership Program, University of North Carolina, Campus Box #7469, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7469

Issues: Leadership is essential in implementing successful public health programs, especially HIV/AIDS prevention and control in developing countries.

Description: In 2004, the national HIV seroprevalence rate in Cameroon was 5.5%, with Northwest Province (NWP) having the highest rate (8.7%), with higher rates in women than men in all agegroups. The HIV rate in blood donors fluctuated between 4-14% from 1999-2004. In 2005, 9.2% of 17,153 antenatal patients from NWP were HIV positive. In 2004, 66% of 4,389 unmarried youth were sexually active. In 2005, the Public Health Leadership Institute selected a team of four people from Cameroon to participate as the only international team in their 15th class. The Cameroonian team decided to develop an action plan to reduce HIV seroprevalence in the NWP.

Lessons learned: In February 2006 the team finalized their action plan with the following objectives: 1. Develop cost-effective HIV surveillance utilizing blood donors, antenatal patients, youth and periodic population-based surveys. 2. Monitor behavioral risk factors in youth and antenatal patients. 3. Utilize input from focus groups of high-risk groups to plan interventions. 4. Over the next 5 years in the NWP, reduce the HIV adult seroprevalence rates by 0.5% per year and rates in young antenatal patients (<20 years of age) by 1% per year.

Recommendations: Effective leadership coupled with innovative, culturally-appropriate interventions in vulnerable groups such as women and youths is necessary to enlist support from organizational partners, improve human rights, and promote behavior change that will reduce HIV seroprevalence.

Learning Objectives:

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1. Define the role of leadership in implementing effective public health programs and the importance of leadership in getting organizational partners to support the interventions.

2. Identify measures to obtain community/provider input in designing grassroots interventions.

3. Discuss the importance of monitoring and evaluation in assessing the impact of interventions.

4. Describe possible behavioral change interventions relevant to the African setting.

At the conclusion of the session, the participant in this session will be able to

1. Describe a practical approach to developing HIV surveillance in resource-poor settings.
2. Explain the importance of grassroots input in planning interventions.
3. Recognize the role of effective leadership in public health interventions.

Keywords: Leadership, HIV/AIDS

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Not Answered

HIV Research and Practice Roundtables I

The 134th Annual Meeting & Exposition (November 4-8, 2006) of APHA