Abstract
UNICEF, UNAIDS and USAID developed a global strategic framework to guide responses to care and protect orphans and other vulnerable children in the context of HIV/AIDS. In the developing world, about 132 million people have lost one or both parents due to the AIDS pandemic and 25 million children have been orphaned by HIV/AIDS in 2010. The HIV prevalence in Cameroon is estimated at 5.1%. As of 2010, there were 304,000 deaths due to AIDS in Cameroon. Out of 1,200,000 orphans and vulnerable children in Cameroon in 2010, 300,000 were AIDS orphans. The HIV/AIDS burden impacts child survival, growth and development in the traditional African setting. With so many orphans in the population, along with many vulnerable children, strategies must be developed to respond more effectively to their critical needs. This study provides a model for OVC care and support in Cameroon. The model was developed out of extensive work using a participatory approach involving traditional, administrative and health stakeholders on OVC in Yaounde I and Yaounde VI Councils, Nanga Eboko Health District, Isangelle, Ekondo Titi, and Bafaka-Balue communities in Cameroon. Consultancy services with PLAN Cameroon, the Pan African Institute for Development-West Africa coupled with facilitation of many training workshops on OVC with Save the orphans Foundation, the Ministry of Social Affairs, and the Ministry of Public Health and working with the National AIDS Control Committee. The essential components of a holistic framework for the care of OVC have been identified. A public health model for the care of OVC and a mechanism for their identification and a referral system for testing OVC for HIV are proposed. Through this model, a mechanism for the effective holistic care of OVC and collaboration is enhanced.
Highlights
HIV and AIDS have created humanitarian and developmental crisis of unprecedented scale in developing countries where about 132 million people have lost one or both parents due to the pandemic and 25 million children have been orphaned by HIV/AIDS in 2010 [1]
Consultancy services with PLAN Cameroon and the Pan African Institute for Development-West Africa coupled with facilitation in many training workshops on orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) with Save the orphans Foundation, Ministry of Social Affairs, Ministry of Public Health and the experience working with the National AIDS Control Committee has been the bases for developing this OVC public health model for Cameroon
We used the guidelines for the standard operating procedures for implementing social care for orphans and vulnerable children in the Kingdom of Cambodia [16]
Summary
HIV and AIDS have created humanitarian and developmental crisis of unprecedented scale in developing countries where about 132 million people have lost one or both parents due to the pandemic and 25 million children have been orphaned by HIV/AIDS in 2010 [1]. A child made vulnerable by HIV/AIDS is below the age of 18 and meets one or more of the following criteria: has lost one or both parents/caregivers, has a chronically ill parent/caregiver, lives in a household where in the past 12 months at least one adult died or was seriously ill for an extended period of time, lives outside of family care (i.e. lives in an institution or on the streets), faces many problems (increase in poverty due to death of parents, loss of family and identity, lack of adequate adult support, increased risk of labour and sexual exploitation, fewer opportunities for education, loss of access to health care because of poverty, poor nutrition and malnutrition, and homelessness and vagrancy). This model seeks to provide an integrated community mechanism for the care of OVC in Cameroon
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