[Access to the management of HIV infected children: Overview of the healthcare supply in Cameroon in 2014]. / Accès à la prise en charge de l'infection VIH pédiatrique ­ État des lieux de l'offre des soins au Cameroun en 2014.

BACKGROUND: In Cameroon in 2012, the proportion (15%) of children eligible for antiretroviral treatment (ART) was one of the lowest among the 21 Global Fund priority countries. The objective of this study was to carry out a situational analysis of the existing care offer for pediatric HIV in Cameroon. METHODS: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted over a 4-month period (April to August 2014) in 12 healthcare facilities in 7 regions of Cameroon selected by systematic sampling. The data were collected in a self-administered questionnaire filled out by the caregiving and administrative personnel included in the study. RESULTS: All in all, 142 persons in charge of pediatric HIV treatment were included in the study, of whom 115 were working at the operational level: 59 (51.2%) health personnel, 44 (38.3%) community agents and 12 (10.4%) department heads; the other 27 exercised responsibilities at the regional (19) and the local (8) levels. An overwhelming majority of the caregivers involved in pediatric VIH treatment were nurses, a factor necessitating the delegation of medical tasks institutionalized in Cameroon. Few standardized nationwide documents take into account these treatment modalities. Inadequate dissemination of the documents at all levels of the healthcare pyramid may justify the non-compliance with the care protocols that has been observed in the training programs dedicated to the subject. CONCLUSION: The updating and large-scale dissemination of standardized nationwide documents taking into account the specificities of HIV-infected children are required to improve implementation at the operational level of the Cameroonian healthcare system of the existing guidelines for pediatric HIV treatment.

[Impediments to HIV testing in HIV-infected children and teenagers in Africa: look for them where they are!]. / Les obstacles au dépistage des enfants et adolescents infectés par le VIH en Afrique : chercher ces enfants, là où ils se trouvent !

A huge number of HIV-infected children and teenagers have no access to care or receive it very late. Of the 3.2 million infected children, 2.8 million should be receiving highly active antiretroviral treatment (HAART) but only around 700,000 actually are. The first reason for this failure is the lack of HIV testing among HIV-exposed infants and thus early diagnosis or, even more frequently, the lack of testing among older children and teenagers. The objectives of this article are twofold: to review the current situation and to advocate routine offers of HIV testing to HIV-exposed children and teenagers (exposed either through mother-to-child transmission or repeated transfusions) and those suspected to be HIV-infected (because of malnutrition, tuberculosis, or other associated diseases). Finally, adults living with HIV should be made aware of the need for routine HIV screening of their children, even when asymptomatic.