Researched and compiled by the Refugee Documentation Centre of Ireland
on 15 April 2011
Information an available health care and the treatment of HIV
A report published in April 2011 by the United States Department of State reviewing events of 2010 notes:
“Women were equally diagnosed and treated for sexually transmitted infections, including HIV/AIDS, and all government and civil society campaigns against the disease targeted men and women” (United States Department of State (8 April 2011) 2010 Human Rights Report: Cameroon, Section 6 Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons/Women).
This report also states:
“Persons infected with HIV/AIDS were often discriminated against and isolated from their families and society due to the societal stigma and lack of education about the disease” (ibid, Section 6 Discrimination, Societal Abuses, and Trafficking in Persons/Women/Other Societal Discrimination).
A report issued in September 2010 by the National Aids Committee points out that:
“To halt the devastating effects of its epidemic, Cameroon needs to expand HIV and AIDS treatment, care, and support services and prevent mother-to-child transmission and other new infections among the general population and most-at-risk groups” (National Aids Committee (September 2010) The Impact Of Hiv And Aids In Cameroon Through 2020, p.2).
A research report produced in February 2010 by the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada states:
“In an 11 February 2010 telephone interview with the Research Directorate, a journalist with the Yaounde? daily newspaper Mutations stated that people who are HIV-positive are generally stigmatized, rejected, marginalized or discriminated against in both their social and private lives. According to the journalist, because the public is prejudiced against them, some people choose to hide that they are HIV-positive (Mutations 11 Feb. 2010). Also, in an article published on 20 September 2008 concerning people with HIV/AIDS, the director of Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) Canada, a non- governmental organization (NGO) that handles international development projects in various countries around the world, stated that [translation] “the stigmatization of sick people is a real scourge… . Since AIDS is perceived to be a shameful illness, families reject those who are infected” (VSO 20 Sept. 2008). According to the Network on Ethics, Law and HIV/AIDS (Re?seau sur l’e?thique, le droit et le sida, REDS), people infected with HIV/AIDS “are perceived by some as plague-stricken and therefore dangerous. Their rights are trampled on a daily basis at various levels of society, particularly within their own families, at hospitals, in the workplace and in prison” (Xinhua 29 Nov. 2009). According to the president of the Cameroonian Network of Associations of People Living with AIDS (Re?seau camerounais des associations des personnes vivant avec le sida, Re?CAP), some people have reportedly lost their jobs or have been [translation] “defamed” (slandered) because they are HIV-positive (ibid.)” (Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (26 February 2010) Cameroon: The treatment of people with HIV/AIDS by society and government authorities).
A publication by the Bertelsmann Transformation Index in 2010 states:
“According to recent U.N. data, the state spends only 1.5% of GDP on health – an increase of 0.3% over previous survey data, but far from sufficient, with just 19 physicians available for every 100,000 people (as of 2000 – 2004; no newer data is available)” (Bertelsmann Transformation Index (2010) Cameroon Country Report,p.9).
This report also notes:
“The state health care system is similarly overextended, and has been significantly compromised by corruption” (ibid,p.12).
No further information on these issues could be found among sources available to the RDC.
References:
Bertelsmann Transformation Index (2010) Cameroon Country Report
Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (26 February 2010) Cameroon: The treatment of people with HIV/AIDS by society and government authorities
National Aids Committee (September 2010) The Impact Of Hiv And Aids In Cameroon Through 2020
United States Department of State (8 April 2011) 2010 Human Rights Report: Cameroon
This response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Refugee Documentation Centre within time constraints. This response is not and does not purport to be conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please read in full all documents referred to.
Sources Consulted:
