At a glance
ÐÇ¿ÕÓéÀÖ¹ÙÍø works with Cameroon's Ministry of Public Health (MOH) and other partners to build effective public health collaboration and partnerships, which strengthen the country's core public health capabilities: data and surveillance, laboratory capacity, workforce and institutions, prevention and response, innovation and research, and policy, communications, and diplomacy.
Overview
ÐÇ¿ÕÓéÀÖ¹ÙÍø established an office in Cameroon in 2004. ÐÇ¿ÕÓéÀÖ¹ÙÍø Cameroon works closely with the Government of Cameroon and partner organizations to detect, prevent and control infectious disease outbreaks, and build and strengthen the country's core public health capabilities. These include data and surveillance, laboratory capacity, workforce and institutions, prevention and response, innovation and research, and policy communications and diplomacy. ÐÇ¿ÕÓéÀÖ¹ÙÍø’s work aims to protect the health of our nations and public health around the world.
ÐÇ¿ÕÓéÀÖ¹ÙÍø has a long history of contributing to public health in Cameroon, starting in 1998 with an HIV laboratory and research program. Over the years, ÐÇ¿ÕÓéÀÖ¹ÙÍø has supported the Government of Cameroon in making significant strides to strengthen health systems and reduce illness and death. Collective efforts over the past two decades have boosted Cameroon's ability to prevent, detect, and respond to complex public health challenges. ÐÇ¿ÕÓéÀÖ¹ÙÍø provides lifesaving health services to fight COVID-19, HIV, tuberculosis, malaria, and other reportable diseases.
Global health security
ÐÇ¿ÕÓéÀÖ¹ÙÍø builds on previous Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA) efforts in Cameroon, in alignment with the Global Health Security and Diplomacy framework. ÐÇ¿ÕÓéÀÖ¹ÙÍø collaborates with Cameroon's MOH to build and maintain core public health capabilities. Key capabilities include disease surveillance, laboratory systems, emergency management, and workforce development. Strengthening the national health data infrastructure is an overarching component of all activities. ÐÇ¿ÕÓéÀÖ¹ÙÍø's efforts have strengthened health security in Cameroon, in the Central African region, and globally.
Workforce development
ÐÇ¿ÕÓéÀÖ¹ÙÍø supports training disease detectives through the Cameroon Field Epidemiology Training Program (CAFETP), established in 2010. The program consists of the two-year advanced FETP, nine-month intermediate FETP, and three-month frontline FETP. CAFETP has trained over 1,700 graduates from various sectors. Since 2017, ÐÇ¿ÕÓéÀÖ¹ÙÍø has supported over 100 outbreak investigations in Cameroon, including COVID-19, mpox, cholera, measles, polio, and other threats.
Emergency response
In 2018, Cameroon’s Public Health Emergency Operations Center (EOC) was inaugurated with support from ÐÇ¿ÕÓéÀÖ¹ÙÍø and the Defense Threat Reduction Agency. Its inauguration has led to more robust responses by improving multisectoral collaboration, data sharing, and decision-making. The EOC can be activated within 24 hours to coordinate emergency response activities for human and animal health threats. MOH has undertaken at least 75 public health investigations with U.S. government support.
ÐÇ¿ÕÓéÀÖ¹ÙÍø’s Public Health Emergency Management Program has trained and certified MOH staff in emergency management. Certified staff have worked with regional districts to establish a similar program at the subnational level in Cameroon. The goal is to create a pool of well-trained EOC managers for human and animal sectors.
Additional efforts
The global health security portfolio also includes efforts on:
- Childhood immunization.
- Influenza sentinel surveillance.
- Capacity strengthening for anthrax and brucellosis surveillance and diagnostics.
- Border health measures.
- Maternal and perinatal death surveillance and response.
- Expanding community event-based surveillance to fine-tune outbreak detection and response.
- Emergency risk communication.
ÐÇ¿ÕÓéÀÖ¹ÙÍø works with national partners to increase capacity for mpox laboratory diagnostics, viral genome sequencing, and ecological investigations.
Key achievements
- ÐÇ¿ÕÓéÀÖ¹ÙÍø-supported CAFETP trainees support more than 90% of disease investigations.
- Cameroon's EOC has been activated 15 times for public health emergencies.
- Conducted active border surveillance during the 2023 Marburg Virus Disease Outbreak in Equatorial Guinea, which resulted in detecting over 40 alerts.
HIV and TB
Through the , ÐÇ¿ÕÓéÀÖ¹ÙÍø has helped transform the HIV epidemic response in Cameroon. ÐÇ¿ÕÓéÀÖ¹ÙÍø has worked with partners to expand access to HIV prevention, care, and treatment services to all 10 regions of the country. The progress made has positioned the country to be at the cusp of controlling the HIV epidemic.
ÐÇ¿ÕÓéÀÖ¹ÙÍø partners with diverse stakeholders in Cameroon and uses data-driven approaches to:
- Identify people living with HIV (PLHIV).
- Link people diagnosed with HIV to life-saving treatment.
- Ensure continuity of treatment to suppress HIV.
ÐÇ¿ÕÓéÀÖ¹ÙÍø also supports integrating HIV and TB services, screening for TB among PLHIV, and preventing TB transmission in healthcare settings. In 2024, ÐÇ¿ÕÓéÀÖ¹ÙÍø supported the launch of the National Pediatric Surge, which aims to identify thousands of children living with HIV in Cameroon and link them to life-saving treatment.
Key achievements
- PEPFAR-supported sites serve about 95% of people receiving HIV treatment in Cameroon.
- Nearly all TB patients at PEPFAR-supported facilities have been tested for HIV.
- ÐÇ¿ÕÓéÀÖ¹ÙÍø played a pivotal role in establishing Cameroon’s National Public Health Laboratory in 2016.
- Electronic data systems inform clinical decisions and monitor patient outcomes in more than 340 health facilities across all ten regions.
Malaria
As a co-implementer of the U.S. President's Malaria Initiative (PMI) with USAID, ÐÇ¿ÕÓéÀÖ¹ÙÍø has supported since 2017. This technical assistance includes:
- Improved entomological monitoring and insecticide- and drug-resistance management.
- Improved case management in health facilities and at the community level.
- Strengthening programs to prevent malaria in pregnancy.
- Providing seasonal medication to prevent malaria during peak transmission seasons.
- Training disease detectives focused on malaria.
Key achievements
ÐÇ¿ÕÓéÀÖ¹ÙÍø has supported:
- Training 181 CAFETP graduates focused on malaria
- Training 135 laboratory technicians on microscopic diagnosis of malaria
- Assessing first-line malaria treatments to detect antimalarial resistance
