57,000 HIV carriers live in the Littoral

According to Dr Noel Essomba, National Coordinator of the Audit Committee and the Fight against HIV and AIDS Technical Group responsible for regional fight against AIDS for the Littoral, almost 57,000 people living with HIV and AIDS are located in the Region of Littoral.

According to the official, this figure corresponds to a prevalence rate of 3% is in sharp decline from 4.3% in 2011.

One learns that this decrease was made possible by increased awareness and screening undertaken in the region and throughout the national triangle. "The satisfactory results are among others the fact of awareness now better structured than we do, first for the benefit of the general population, but particularly for the benefit of the most vulnerable populations. These results are certainly the result of a better coordination of various interventions, both those of our partners (multilateral, bilateral, NGOs and various associations) and those of the government," said the doctor in the daily La Nouvelle Expression of Thursday, October 30, 2014.

Out of the about 57,000 patients identified, including 1,200 children, only 30,000 (about 53%) are under treatment. Neglected patients, the psychological state of HIV who refuse to disclose their illness and consider it a curse, lack of financial resources, prevent some patients to travel to support centers.

Despite government efforts to make more accessible as possible the antiviral drugs, many patients continue to complain about the high cost of products, the trust of care centers managers for AIDS patients.

According to officials of the Board of Control and Fight against HIV AIDS, this figure is not final, it can be revised upward or downward based on the behavior of populations to raise awareness against the disease.