In Cameroon, the WHO World Health Report (2004) indicates an adult mortality¹¹ rate per 1000 population of 519 for males and 454 for females. Life expectancy for males is 47.2 for females 49.0. Healthy life expectancy is 41.1 for males; 41.8 for females.¹²

HIV/AIDS is a huge burden for sub-Saharan Africa. Throughout the region in 2003, an estimated 23-27 million people were thought to be living with the disease which also caused up to 2.5 million deaths. This represents a huge loss and impacts significantly on health systems and social and family structures.

Cameroon is a country in Western Africa that has been severely affected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Estimates suggest that in Cameroon, between 390,000 and 810,000 people were living with HIV/AIDS at the end of 2003. In the same year, up to 74,000 adults and children are thought to have died from the disease (Table 2).

Table 2 Cameroon HIV and AIDS estimates, end 2003

Source: 2004 Report of the global AIDS epidemic

UNAIDS reports:

Coordination of AIDS control in Cameroon is the responsibility of the National AIDS Control Committee (CNLS) which is chaired by the Minister of Health.  The Committee's Central Technical Group coordinates implementation of activities throughout the country, with the assistance of 10 provincial technical groups run by 10 provincial coordinators.CNLS is made up of 13 representatives of the public sector, including the offices of the President of the Republic and the Prime Minister, representatives of the private sector (an employers' organization and a trade union), national and international nongovernmental organizations, the representatives of the two networks of associations of people living with HIV, the representatives of donors, and in particular la Coopération Française, GTZ, the European Union, the members of the Theme Group, including the UNAIDS country coordinator and representatives of parliament.  CNLS holds two statutory meetings per year, convened by its chair.

The action of CNLS is supervised by its joint monitoring Committee. This is an audit and control body which also serves as an advisory body to CNLS. It is chaired by the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Decentralization and meets four times a year. It approves the annual and quarterly plans of action and the annual activities report. The Theme Group takes part in its work. The Country Coordinating Mechanism has just taken its place in this organization, specifically in connection with the follow-up of activities funded by the Global Fund.  The Country Coordinating Mechanism has 30 members and is chaired by the Chairman of CNLS. National initiatives such as agreements signed between the government and the private sector are subject to a further level of coordination, determined by their specifications and at the proposal of the private sector.¹³