The steering committee of the International Centre for AIDS Prevention met in Mbalmayo on November 8, 2013.

Strengthening the Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission (PMTCT) monitoring and evaluation systems is a major preoccupation of government. It is in this light that the steering committee meeting of the of the International Centre for AIDS Prevention and Treatment (ICAP) held in Mbalmayo in the Nyong and So'o Division of the Centre Region on November 8, 2013.

Speaking at the opening, the Inspector General in the Ministry of Public Health, Prof. Biwole Sida said the government attaches great importance to the meeting and its expected recommendations. He called on participants to work hand-in-glove in order to come out with concrete proposals which will help improve the Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission (PMTCT) programme.

The meeting was within the framework of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed between the Ministry of Public Health and the University of Columbia in New York (United States of America) through ICAP one year ago. The objective of the meeting was for members to revisit the achievements of ICAP during the past year, assess the level of work done in the strengthening of the monitoring and evaluation of prevention of mother and child transmission system and to plan for the future.

ICAP Cameroon team is working to support the Ministry of Public Health to enhance its PMTCT mother and child systems to collect analyse, and disseminate, high quality data. ICAP Cameroon team is also supporting several studies that will produce results to help guide future planning for PMTCT scale-up, including an evaluation of barriers for PMTCT uptake among pregnant women, a study on the impact of PMTCT interventions on reducing HIV transmission.