At a glance
CDC Cameroon partners with the Government of Cameroon to reduce illness and strengthen health systems. Activities include increasing core public health capabilities and providing lifesaving health services to fight COVID-19, HIV, tuberculosis, malaria, and other reportable diseases.
Overview
CDC has a long history of contributing to public health in Cameroon, starting in 1998 with an HIV laboratory and research program. In 2004, CDC established an office in Cameroon to further collaborate with the Government of Cameroon and advance public health.
CDC 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. CDC Cameroon continues to work closely with MOH and partner organizations to address the following public health areas:
- Global health security
- HIV
- TB
- Malaria
- Emerging disease threats
Global health security
Strategic focus
CDC builds on previous Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA) efforts in Cameroon, in alignment with the Global Health Security and Diplomacy framework. CDC collaborates with Cameroon's Ministry of Public Health (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. CDC's efforts have strengthened health security in Cameroon, in the Central African region, and globally.
Workforce development
CDC 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, CDC has supported over 100 outbreak investigations in Cameroon, including COVID-19, mpox, cholera, measles, polio, and other threats.
Cameroon is a regional leader in training disease detectives
Emergency response
In 2018, Cameroon’s Public Health Emergency Operations Center (EOC) was inaugurated with support from CDC 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.
CDC’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.
CDC works with national partners to increase capacity for mpox laboratory diagnostics, viral genome sequencing, and ecological investigations.
Key achievements
- CDC-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
Strategic focus
Through the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), CDC has helped transform the HIV epidemic response in Cameroon. CDC 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.
CDC 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.
CDC also supports integrating HIV and TB services, screening for TB among PLHIV, and preventing TB transmission in healthcare settings. In 2024, CDC 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
ISO Accreditation
- 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.
- CDC 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
Strategic focus
As a co-implementer of the U.S. President's Malaria Initiative (PMI) with USAID, CDC has supported malaria prevention and control in Cameroon 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
CDC 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
