Joe Dinga Pefok
5 December 2008
The Coordinator of the Littoral Technical Group for the Fight against HIV/AIDS, Dr. Noel Emmanuel Essomba, has disclosed that recent statistics show that the prevalence rate of the virus in the region has dropped from 5.5 percent to four percent.
He made this revelation on December 1, during activities to commemorate the 21st World AIDS Day celebrated this year under the theme "Stop AIDS-Keep the Promise." Dr. Essomba attributed the drop in the HIV prevalence rate to the intensification of sensitisation campaigns by the government, religious groups and NGOs, accessibility of anti-retroviral drugs and an increase in the treatment of opportunistic infections across the region.
He said there are currently 48,000 people living with the virus in the Littoral, with 12,500 of them on anti-retroviral drugs.With the current national statistics showing that 543,000 people are currently living with the virus, this means that Littoral Region harbours less than 10 percent of theses carriers.
Going by the statistics, over 25 percent of the infected people are on treatment.
Also, The Post learnt that the Littoral Region presently has three authorised treatment centres, as well as two affiliated treatment centres for AIDS carriers, with the biggest being the Laquintinie Hospital, Douala.
Dr. Essomba also said there are a total of 175 heath centres across the Littoral Region, which offer the medical technology and medication that prevent the mother-to-child transmission of the virus.
Some 35,000 pregnant women across the region were from January-November 2008, screened for HIV/AIDS.Taking all the above medical facilities into consideration, Essomba argued that gone are the days when HIV/AIDS was synonymous to death.
He thus, urged members of the public who have not yet gone for voluntary HIV/AIDS screening, to strive to do so.Meanwhile, the Social and Cultural Affairs Adviser at the Littoral Governor's Office cautioned the population that in spite of the drop in the HIV prevalence rate in the region, HIV/AIDS remains a real pandemic.
She said in spite of national and international efforts, the challenges to bring the situation under control remain quite enormous.
Meanwhile, there is a controversy as to the criteria medical authorities at the different treatment centres consider before putting HIV positive people on anti-retroviral treatment. For one thing, not all those who test positive can be put on the anti-retroviral treatment because of the limited provision of medications.
Authorities at Laquintinie Hospital say priority is given to patients who are seen to be at a stage that they can still be saved by anti-retroviral drugs. Some patients complain that at times selfish considerations influence the selection of patients to be put on anti-retroviral drugs.
Also, some of the patients placed on the anti-retroviral drugs complain that though it is always officially announced that the treatment since May 1, 2007, is free it is not the case in reality.They say they are asked to pay FCFA 1,500 and at times more, when they go each month to collect their drugs.
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