CAMEROON: EGPAF Issues End-Of-Project Report

Document Recaps 12 Successful Years of Supporting Local Partners to Implement High-Quality PMTCT Services—and Save Lives

Mother and child at their second ANC visit to
Baptist Hospital Mutengene in Mutengene, South
West Region. (Photo: Abanda Alphonse, 2012)

From February 2000 to December 2012, EGPAF supported Cameroon Baptist Convention Health Services (CBCHS), a local nonprofit health care organization in Cameroon, in initiating and implementing high-quality services for the prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV. EGPAF provided both funding and technical assistance to CBCHS in diverse programmatic areas within six of Cameroon’s 10 regions; this enabled PMTCT services to be successfully integrated into routine maternal and child health services across the country.

Read the full End-of-Project report here, which takes an in-depth look at project achievements, major challenges, lessons learned, and future directions.

True to EGPAF’s mission to virtually eliminate new HIV infections in infants and children, the program sought to expand and optimize PMTCT services, as well as to strengthen the capacity and commitment of the existing health system at all levels to ensure a sustainable and cost-effective approach. Working closely with the Cameroon Ministry of Public Health, CBCHS scaled up PMTCT coverage from two sites (in 2000) to 457 sites, ranging from large hospitals in urban areas to small clinics in remote villages.

“We have reason to celebrate EGPAF’s twelve-year association with CBCHS and its partners,” said Anja Giphart, vice president of program implementation at EGPAF. “Together, we have proven that we can successfully initiate, implement, and scale up a powerful mix of evidence-informed interventions and innovative strategies—all with the goal of increasing program efficiency, improving service delivery, and enhancing the lives of children, mothers, and families across Cameroon.”

Members of a children’s psychosocial support group after their monthly meeting displaying "back-to-school" supplies donated by the program. (Photo: EGPAF/Lior Miller, 2012)

The Cameroon program was made possible through the generous support of Johnson & Johnson, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Call to Action project (through USAID), and other anonymous private donors. EGPAF is especially grateful to the Ministry of Public Health in Cameroon for its tireless dedication to caring for—and improving the lives of—people living with HIV.

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Read EGPAF's press release about the end-of-project report from Cameroon.

Read about Florentine, Agnes, and Mercy – three HIV-positive mothers from Cameroon who are direct beneficiaries of high-quality PMTCT services provided by EGPAF and CBCHS.