Cameroon: fight against AIDS – The benefits of screening



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The theme was at the center of a didactic conference last Friday in Yaoundé between the managers of African synergies and about a hundred students from the seven districts of the city.

Pauline Mounton, psychosocial counselor for HIV / AIDS is infected. Physically, you wouldn’t believe it. Still, she has tested positive since 1992. Despite the stigma at the time, she coped with the disease and got over it. It is this message of courage and encouragement to learn about your serological status that brought about a hundred students and wellness center supervisors in various public and private institutions in the capital last Friday.

During the educational talk focused on the theme: “Overcoming the fear of screening”, the various speakers followed the young people on the meaning of HIV / AIDS, its mode of transmission. And above all on the central question addressed to young people: “Why do young people refuse to take the test?” “A question that made more than one react. Without taboos and without complexes, the young students lent themselves to the game of questions and answers. Some admitted that they had not been tested for fear of having a positive result and of being rejected by the community. For still others, the post-counciling phase is traumatic and doesn’t even encourage people to go and catch up on their achievements.

However, according to those in charge of African synergies, taking the test is important to know your HIV status and to take care of yourself immediately, if the result is positive. “Young people shouldn’t be afraid of being tested. That is why the topic of overcoming the fear of screening was on the agenda of the educational talk and the participation of African Synergies in this Cameroonian month against AIDS ”, explained Jean Stéphane Biatcha, executive secretary. African synergies. For the head of the Lycée Général Leclerc, André Fouda, whose premises hosted this educational talk, students should be disciplined and practice sexual abstinence.

According to the UNAIDS 2020 report, more than 38 million people were living with HIV in 2019.1.7 million people contracted the virus in 2019 and 690,000 people died from AIDS-related diseases in the same period. With an estimated prevalence of 3.4% in 2018, Cameroon is in a context of generalized epidemic. One third of the infected is found in the young population aged between 15 and 24 years. Unfortunately, despite the many awareness campaigns carried out among the population, the number of people who do not know their serological status remains high. About 7.1 million people in 2019.

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