Holidays without AIDS campaign launched in the East

The 2015 edition of caravan of holidays without AIDS, sponsored by the First Lady, Chantal Biya, was launched in the Eastern Region on the theme; "Les go disent stop au Vih/Sida".

However the word'go' in the theme refers to 'young lady'. This slogan resonates very timely for the Eastern Region, which is among the highest prevalence rate in the country. “Statistics indicated that with about 6.3% at the regional level, women have the worst score with 8.2%. While among the men, it is 2.7%,” according to Dr. Lyli, coordinator of the regional group of the committee against AIDS in the East. It is satisfactory for the slogan to be feminine.

This is for 50 peer educators to reach the maximum of people so they get tested. They also educate the people to adopt a responsible behavior to stop the spread of the disease. Each test was done within minutes and the result was shown on the spot. The organizers hope that this will happen during the two-week campaign to obtain the expected results on the evening of September 4.

The overall objective of this campaign is to reduce the prevalence rate of AIDS in the Eastern Region. At the launch in the room of the Technical High School in Bertoua, lots of advices were given. The traditional ways of preventing this disease, discovered in 1983 by Luc Montagnier, was also discussed. The general secretary of the governor's office, Rachel Akono Ngazang, asked young people to abstain, as long as possible, before marriage.

Otherwise, the administrative authority suggested the use of condoms correctly. For the couple, faithfulness to one partner was recommended. The government delegate of the Urban Community of Bertoua, Dieudonné Samba, went in the same direction and asked the people to adopt responsible sexual behavior in order to have a healthy young generation, ready to meet the challenges of emergence.

In the Eastern region, there are ten support units of HIV / AIDS in many health districts. 12,000 people are living with HIV. And only 6,000 are on ARVs. Dr. Lyli Ousmanou argued that there is a reinforcement of ARVs. He simply asked patients to “knock on the right door” for free treatment.