In Cameroon, the USAID-funded Systems for Improved Access to Pharmaceuticals and Services (SIAPS) Program has been working with the Ministry of Health since 2012 to improve the continuous availability of quality HIV medicines. As in many other countries, stock-outs of medicines in Cameroon are a symptom of numerous systemic weaknesses, including a lack of coordination among institutions, budget unpredictability, inefficiencies in storage and distribution systems, and lack of qualified staff.

Despite these challenges, the situation has improved since 2012, when SIAPS began working in Cameroon to strengthen the pharmaceutical supply system, support a policy framework and build human resources capacity. At the regional level and at antiretroviral therapy (ART) sites, technical advisors helped strengthen coordination among HIV program managers and medical stores to improve regional distribution plans for HIV commodities. At SIAPS-supported health facilities, stock-outs of ARVs decreased significantly, from 100% of facilities reporting a stock-out in 2014 to 9% in 2016. Prior to 2012, the HIV program in Cameroon lacked a system to capture patient and pharmaceutical information. With support from SIAPS, the availability, quality, and use of data at 129 ART and prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) sites improved. By December 2015, 63% of facilities were reporting on time and with complete reports, and 87% had complete patient information. 

MSH is also supporting the Cameroon National Malaria Control Program through the Leadership, Management, and Governance (LMG) project. LMG supports the country's malaria control efforts through long-term technical assistance advisors. The advisors' sustained support aims to improve the Malaria Control Program's management of resources and implementation of the national malaria control strategy.

LMG support has led to more pregnant women receiving bed nets, and fewer health facilities with stock-outs of malaria supplies. LMG has also worked with the National Malaria Control Program to design, plan, and implement national bed net distribution. For the first time in Cameroon, the distribution will use mobile technology.

MSH is also working in Cameroon through the Evidence to Action for Strengthened Family Planning and Reproductive Health Services for Women and Girls (E2A) project. The USAID-funded project, led by Pathfinder International, is scaling up effective, evidence-based family planning and reproductive health practices. Through E2A, MSH works with the Ministry of Health to support the introduction of postpartum family planning services in six hospitals. Starting in February 2015, trained providers began offering postpartum family planning services in four hospitals in Yaoundé. As of September 2015, nearly 7,000 women had received family planning counseling in these four facilities.