New Bell-Douala District HIV Coordination Meeting Holds in Bonapriso

By James Achanyi Fontem, camlinknews

Eliszabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation , EGPAF, sponsored the New Bell District Coordination Meeting of 9th September 2021 at Futuris Hotel in Bonapriso presided over by the representative of the regional delegate for public health in the Littoral. Mrs. BAYICKE Chimene made a presentation of the objective of the meeting and designated minuts secretaries. She told participants that it was an opportunity to make an evaluation of progress in the prevention of the spread of HIV in the past three months, exchange on the challenges and make proposals on the best strategies to fill the gaps created by obstacles. She focused her attention on the coordination of activities in the health district during the month of August 2021. The officer in charge of monitoring and evaluation presented data collected for the 4th cluster and the results expected. The data was discussed and validated after a question and answer session. The was followed by the moderation of presentations of the different project sites , trigulation of data from the sites and validation. Dr. Sih made a presentation on the situation of HIV therapeutic drugs , the stock and challenges during delivery in each site site. It was noted that some sites like Mboppi with many PLHIV do not receive enough stock to satisfy patients and most patients receive their VAT monthly and not quarterly or bi-annually as recommended by the protocols. The leader of the TB Unit made a presentation of activities in her sector and it was noted that some patients receive treatment but it is not documented. The coordinators of the different sites were advised to update their data for presentation of the real situation in each sites. Some patients change their residential areas and telephone numbers and are lost during tracking especially when they move from one region to another. It was advised that tracking should be done and coordinators of TB in the new sites of the patients informed for better follow up. Mrs. Abomo presented the best strategies for tracking TB patients to guarantee that treatment protocols are respected to avoid transmission to other persons. Coordinators of Community based organisations, CBO, were give the opportunity to make presentations on the activities in their different sites with challenges and suggestions for amelioration of performance. Mr. Mekal of the GTR/AIDS in the littoral presented a review of activities of CBos during the month of August in New Bell District. Challenges in relation with the different communities were presented and solutions proposed to improve for better results. The meeting ended with an elaboration of a plan of action for follow up of recommendations. Facilitators were Dr. Mossi, Dr. Sih, Dr. Etoa Mebara,Dr. Bayicke ChimeneMr. Mekal, Dr. Nyemb Grace of EGPAF and Arnold Ndille of EGPAF, Mme Audrey Sah of GTR. Participants were coordinators and UPEC Majors from the lead sites in New Bell, Mboppi, Ad Lucem,CMA Congo, Nkololoun and New Bell Prison. The CBOs were APSUPES, KAMITIK,New Way, FESPAC, and Cameroon Link. There were also representatives of the community, COSADI, COSA, representative of pharmacies and the the associate of monitoring and evealuation from New Bell. Cameroon Link was given the opportunity to present the way forward since the signing of protocol agreement with GTR/AIDS for Littoral. To get a clear picture of how prepared Cameroon Link is, we have below traced activities and evaluation session organized at the level of the CBO and UPEC. The 10-page protocol document between GTR/Littoral and Cameroon Link was endorsed on the 4th June 2021 and deposited at Hopital General Douala and Baptist Hospital (CBC) Mboppi. We then organized working sessions with Cameroon Link staff to prepare an agenda for participation during coaching sessions at Baptist Hospital Mboppi. On the first contact, the focal point for OBCs was sent to identify the location of Cameroon Link in Bonaberi and report on the appropriateness of the site for receiving PLHIV,

On the report of the CBO Focal point, the UPEC Coordinator of Baptist Hospital Mboppi and EGPAF Representative at the district were guided by the focal point of OBCs to Cameroon Link for a first evaluation. Some recommendations were made for updating the appropriateness of Cameroon Link . Staff immediately engaged in the adaptation of the offices as instructed. From the month of July 2021, staff of Cameroon Link started attending evaluation meetings of CBOs and APS to learn about the circuit of ARV and dispensation in the community through reports presented by actors already involved in the system. This concerned reporting on data of PLHIV in each health area, the respect of appointments , sensitization and counselling of PLHIV just to name a few activities. Reports of the meetings and working sessions at Baptist Hospital and New Bell District level were shared with staff for updates. The focal point of CBOs, has coached staff of Cameroon Link on the filling of the DAILY APPOINTMENT REGISTER FOR PLHIV onARV and the HIV Anti-retroviral dispensation register. Since the 14th July, 2021 the CBOs’ Focal Point for Baptist Hospital (CBC) Mboppi, the UPEC Coordinator and EGPAF Project Funding representative, have trained and informed Cameroon Link staff on the management of Cohort hrough the register and sharing of data. Hey have been informed that some 500 PLHIV will be handled by Cameroon Link CBO in Bonaberi-Douala. For this reason, the training at the UPEC has focused on two main registers used during community dispensation of HIV anti-retroviral therapy drugs notably : 1. DAILY APPOINTMENT REGISTER FOR PLHIV ON ART 2. TRACKING REGISTER FOR RESEARCH OF PLHIV ABSENCE OR LOSS In the dispensation register each of the 17 Cohorts will occupy one page in the register and it was explained that the patients will be drawn from the period 2008 to 2019. Patients will be followed up by Health Facilities (FOSA) for 24 months before they are transferred to CBOs when their Viral Loads (CV) are considered stable. The 500 patients announced will be classified at Cameroon Link under 17 Cohorts as follows: 1. January 2000 – July 2008 2. August 2008 - August 2009 3. September 2009 - August 2010 4. September 2010 – July 2011 5. August 2011 – July 2012 6. July 2012 – MAY 2013 7. June 2013 – March 2014 8. April 2014 – December 2014 9. January 2015 – August 2015 10. September 2015 – March 2016 11. April 2016 – August 2016 12. September 2016 – February 2017 13. March 2017 – July 2017 14. August 2017 – March 2018 15. April 2018 – September 2018 16. October 2018 – December 2018 17. January 2019 – December 2019 After the first evealuation of the Cameroon Link site, a second evaluation is expected in the month of September 2021 before effective transfer of PLHIV to the community site for dispensation of ARV. Cameroon Link has prepared track to facilitate access to Cameroon Link in Bonaberi and these tracks are shared with patients put on the transfer list. The staff designated and trained to participate in the dispensation process at Cameroon link is as follows: 1. James Achanyi Fontem, Team Leader, Tel.: +237 677758840 2. Ojong Helen Ayamba, Nurse, +237 651776537 3. Kamdom Dzukam Christaine Laure, Asistant Nurse. +237 699877186 4. Mbon Flavie Marcelle , +237 693002311 5. Emmanuel Atangah +237 675312939