Cameroon

Cameroon is a republic in western Africa with a coastline on the Bight of Bonny on the Gulf of Guinea. Sometimes referred to as “Africa in miniature” for containing all of the major geographical attributes of the continent—coastline, savannah, mountain, rainforest, and desert—Cameroon also has many of the social challenges that face Africans. Two former French and British colonies merged to form the country in 1961 and it has enjoyed relative peace and stability since then. Although Cameroon has a well-developed economic sector based on timber and agricultural exports and modest petroleum reserves, many Cameroonians live in poverty, and the government is controlled by a single party. Observers say human rights abuses are common, and there is growing [Page 334]unrest among the people, particularly in Anglophone areas of the former British Cameroon.

The population is 18,100,000 and is growing at 2.24 percent annually. The birth rate is 35.07 per 1,000, with a death rate of 12.66 per 1,000. Median age is 18.9 years. Life expectancy is 52.15 years for males and 53.59 years for females. Fifty-three percent of the population live in urban areas. Gross national income is $1,010. Forty-eight percent of Cameroonians live in poverty, with 17 percent living on less than $1 day.

Malaria is endemic throughout the country, and is the leading cause of both illness and death in Cameroon. It is the cause of 50 percent of all medical consultations and 30 percent of all hospitalizations. In two-thirds of the country, malaria is resistant to standard drug treatment. Yellow fever is common in some regions. Potable water and sanitary waste facilities are available to less than half of rural Cameroonians. There are frequent outbreaks of cholera, meningococcal meningitis, and schistosomiasis. In 2007, the H5N1 avian flu was detected in birds within Cameroon, but there have been no reported human transmissions to date.

The adult prevalence rate for HIV/AIDS is 5.4 percent, with an estimated 510,000 Cameroonians infected with the virus. There have been 46,000 AIDS-relat-ed deaths. Women between the ages of 15 and 24 have borne the brunt of the virus, with 290,000 infected so far. Twenty-two percent of patients are receiving anti-retroviral drugs. Only 4.2 percent of pregnant women are treated to cut the risk of mother-to-child transmission of the virus. Education does seem to be making some inroads. Cameroon is an important site for AIDS research: All of the strains of HIV/AIDS are present in the population.

The fertility rate for Cameroonian women is 4.49 children; only 23 percent have access to contraceptives. Over 60 percent of rural women marry in adolescence. Legal abortions are restricted, forcing women to use illegal means. In a survey, 21 percent of respondents said they had had an abortion at some point in their lives; 40 percent had undergone more than one. Most went to doctors or nurses for the procedure, but safe practices were not generally used. One in four women had complications. Childbirth is also risky, with 670 deaths per 100,000. Infant and child mortality is 85 deaths per 1,000 for children younger than 1, and 149 deaths per 1,000 for those aged 1–5 years.

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