About 50,000 men, women and children will benefit from nine US-funded community projects to tackle HIV/AIDS in Cameroon over the next year.

Ambassador Michael S. Hoza released grants of up to CFA 120 million to NGOs selected to implement the initiative in Yaounde on Tuesday April 21, 2015.

HIV/AIDS is considered a serious hindrance to development and directly touches more than 5% percent of the population of Cameroon.

Poor access to treatment, stigma and discrimination continue to slow progress in curbing the fatality and spread of the infection in Cameroon, according to expert.

The projects, funded through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), will roll out in six regions, including the North West and the South West.

They focus on raising awareness on HIV prevention, providing care and treatment, increasing access to HIV services and fighting stigma and discrimination.

The projects’ goal is to achieve an HIV-free generation by reducing deaths and new infections, said US embassy officials overseeing the project.

“PEPFAR is the US Government’s initiative to turn the tide of the HIV/AIDS epidemic around the world,” the embassy said in a statement. “This historic commitment is the largest by any nation to combat a single disease internationally.”

Cameroon has been benefitting from PEPFAR since 2010 to the tune of over $60 million or more than CFA30 billion.

“Lives that have been saved, lives that have been prolonged, lives that have been transformed are by far more important than the money invested,” said Hoza.

PEPFAR is administered by five US agencies: The Centers for Disease Control, the US Agency for International Development, the Department of Defense, the Department of State and the Peace Corps.

Cameroonian NGOs are benefitting and joining American agencies in combating HIV/AIDS through the initiative for the first time. “I congratulate and recognise the extraordinary leadership of Cameroonians from all sectors – public, private and health – whose work combat HIV/AIDS in this nation,” Hoza said. “They are everyday heroes whose efforts promote life amongst those affected.”