U.S. Embassy Donates Blood Bank Equipment to Ministry of Health for Use in All Ten Regions Through Pepfar Program

On July 2, 2013 at noon, U.S. Ambassador Robert P. Jackson will present a donation of blood bank equipment to Minister of Public Health Andre Mama Fouda. The ministry will use this equipment to support testing in all ten regions to reduce the incidence of transfusion-related infections among Cameroon's blood recipients. The donation ceremony will be held at a warehouse near Commisariat Central No 1, Direction de Douane in Douala.

The equipment, valued at over $640,000 (FCFA 320 million), was paid for by the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and will benefit fifteen Cameroonian hospitals. With this donation, the U.S. government seeks to help the Cameroonian government move closer to ensuring that a safe supply of donated blood is readily available for transfusions in hospitals.

The equipment will also improve mobile blood collection and thus significantly increase the percentage of the blood supply provided by voluntary non-compensated donors and promote the long-term sustainability of Cameroon's blood safety systems. These are all goals shared with Cameroon's recently created National Blood Transfusion Program.

This support also complements the U.S. government's efforts to help eradicate Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) such as lymphatic filariasis, onchoceriasis, schistosomiasis, soil-transmitted helminthes, and trachoma. In 2012, the United States provided $6 million (FCFA 3 billion) to treat 10 million Cameroonians with these seven NTDs. In 2013, the United States is providing an additional $4 million (FCFA 2 billion) for this cause over and above the $29.5 million (FCFA 14.75 billion) in PEPFAR support coming to Cameroon this year.