Welcome to another World AIDS Day - the international day of action on HIV and AIDS which takes place every year on 1 December. This year in Cameroon like in any other country in which the UN is present, World AIDS Day is about wearing the Red Ribbon with one arm turned blue, as a sign of support for people especially children living with HIV and a symbol of hope for the future. The blue has been added to denote the emphasis on children after the joint statement by UNICEF and the World Health Organization.
WHO and UNICEF is ‘United for children, United against AIDS’. Through this particular highlight, they wand to pass through the disturbing facts of the missing face of AIDS - Children are the missing face of AIDS. Every day, almost 1,800 children under 15 become HIV-positive and 1,400 die of AIDS-related illness.
World AIDS Day is about people getting the facts about HIV and AIDS. It's a day for people to get involved through many ways. No matter how you decide to mark the day, you can help create a more AIDS Aware society in which everyone takes action, so please make sure you show off your Red Ribbon or Red Ribbon spiced with blue if you are uniting for children and against AIDS on 1 December! As for me, I’m united for Children and against AIDS.

Talking about taking action, Young people across Cameroon and neighboring countries are among the main victims of a resurgence of the deadly HIV/AIDS epidemic. In the run-up to World AIDS Day on 1 December, freshly released data from the Health and Demographic Survey indicates that the number of people newly diagnosed with HIV is increasing steadily. In the 10 Provinces of Cameroon for which data was available, the Northwest turned out with the highest prevalence closely followed by the East Province.

I am very concerned about the resurgence of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, especially amongst young Cameroonians; we need to remind young people of the risks linked to the epidemic, and that it is still a very real and growing threat. Raising awareness will be one the main priorities of the forthcoming years on combating HIV/AIDS, which should in particular foster dialogue and co-operation with civil society to help get the message across.

Major social challenges, such as the spread of HIV/AIDS amongst African youth and Cameroonian youth in particular, need cutting edge research. By working together at the African level, we can be more effective and innovative, and make new ways to prevent the spread of the disease a reality much sooner.

This year I carry along the sad memories of Fongwa Justine a good friend of mine. Justine got involved with the so called ‘internet love’ she was ‘dating’ one guy – a Cameroonian living in Germany. This guy came home last may and that’s when both of them started having unprotected sex until the guy traveled back. One evening, Justine came to me with tears in her eyes and handed to me an email she had printed out. When I read through, I realized she had all the reasons to cry. Her boyfriend had latter on fallen sick and went for an HIV test that turned out to be positive. He was advising her to go for her own test.

But I told her I wondered why she was crying when she had not yet been to the hospital, that’s when she told me her own results turned out positive some days latter when she went for the test. You can imagine how this passed through me like a razor.

Since then, it’s been from one illness to the other that Justine has had to endure, I visited her most of the times at home and in the hospital. She told me she wanted to give a testimony during my activities marking the world AIDS day but as fate would have it, she passed away two months ago to the date scheduled for her testimony.

No matter where your are, no matter who you are, no matter your age, and no matter what you are doing, the HIV is around the Conner and you need to take all the precautions.

“Stop AIDS. Keep the Promise.” In keeping to the theme for this year’s celebration and as we would be stopping the AIDS in other to keep the Promise, we must remember to stop our own selves from the AIDS and keep the promise to our selves then it would be well with everybody else.