CBC Pastors commit to take Lead in HIV Care and Treatment
The Church in Cameroon has been engaged as a key stakeholder in improving Pediatric HIV Care and Treatment, Sexual and Reproductive Health, and Mental Health outcomes in the community. The participating Field and Youth Pastors of the Cameroon Baptist Convention (CBC) convened on August 8, 2023, for a capacity-building workshop at the Nkwen Baptist Center. The church community, it is believed, represents a huge opportunity in bridging the gaps considering the role it plays in the life of many individuals and families.
Based on recent statistics in HIV Care and Treatment and the undeniable influence of the church in the local context, the Children Momentum Project of the CBC Health Services saw the urgent need to bring CBC pastors in a workshop to have them understand their roles and responsibilities, and take appropriate actions to have better treatment outcomes for children and adolescents aged 5-14.
According to reports, Cameroon is making great strides in HIV for adults but is still lacking in pediatric HIV. “When a child is diagnosed with HIV, a journey begins and throughout that journey, children, families, caregivers, and communities will need information and support”.
In his presentation, Dr. Pascal Nji Atanga, Senior Technical Advisor for pediatric/adolescent HIV Care and Treatment, said 90% of children living with HIV are in one zone which is Sub-Saharan Africa. In 11 of the 21 focus countries, half or more of the infants acquire HIV from breastfeeding. In 2020, some 41,000 children acquired HIV because their mothers were not on treatment; 81,000 got infected because their mothers did not engage or complete their treatment; and 27,000 became infected during the breastfeeding period because the women started and didn’t continue treatment.
As of 2020, about 37.7 million people live with HIV, 2.7 million of these were children 0-19, and 1.7 million of these children are less than 14 years old. There are currently 1.5 million new infections and 680,000 deaths from HIV-related causes worldwide. A total of 120,000 of these were children below 20. There are 28 million people already on treatment, thus 1 in 3 persons living with HIV (PLHIV) have not had access to treatment. In Sub-Saharan Africa, women and children make up to 60% of new infections.
Looking at Cameroon, if you had 100 women in Ante Natal Clinic (ANC), 5% would be infected. As of 2021, some 500,000 were living with HIV with the Center region witnessing more new infections in children than other regions. Cameroon is considered a priority country and there are only 11,500 children in treatment, far below the expected number of 35,000. Many more have been identified who are not on treatment. The gap in children’s identification is still very high as lots of identified children are not on treatment.
There are many reasons, Dr. Atanga posited to explain the data he presented. Some parents get tested, and their children are identified but the parents disagree on the child’s treatment. This is difficult and the service providers can’t give medication when the parents disagree. Some women start treatment and abandon therefore infecting their children. Some women do not tell their status to their partners and do not give their children treatment so that their partners do not ask questions.
Addressing the pastors on behalf of the Director of Health Services. Mr. Yengong Nelson, Assistant Administrator for Personnel said, “These children and adolescents affected are probably our fellow Christians and as church leaders, you can have a positive influence on how they adhere”.
Dr. Paul Mokake, CBC Director of Evangelism and Missions who championed the holding of this workshop was also present to welcome the participants. “I pray and hope we are able to draw concrete action plans to improve the impact we have on our communities and Christians who need our assistance,” he petitioned.
The pastors also received lessons on the Value of sexual reproductive health (SRH) to adolescents, the Gaps in adolescent SRH referring to it as the well-being and care of their bodies, feelings, and relationships as they grow and develop into adults, and Child protection and safeguarding.
Boyo Maurine, CBCHS Child Protection Officer pleaded with the church to be a safe space and accommodate the needs of children. She taught the church leaders about the different forms of abuse and how they could be identified.
Some pastors confessed that they never knew that it was possible to have a discordant couple where one is positive and another negative. Thanks to the project, funded by ViiV Healthcare, “We now have accurate information about proper HIV care and treatment and SRH,” one admitted. The pastors formulated action plans from their various group sessions. They also jointly signed the 2023 Baptist Center Declaration committing themselves to improving SRH and HIV services in the communities.