Meeting in Libreville, Gabon, on 12 February, the ministers of health of the Economic Community of Central African States launched an ambitious programme to strengthen regional cooperation by establishing a community health fund to reinforce the region’s AIDS response.

The ministers also decided to improve coordination by setting up a specialized unit to enhance cross-border HIV prevention strategies and by developing a regional mechanism to source antiretroviral medicines on a larger scale. They also adopted a plan to increase the proportion of pregnant women and children receiving antiretroviral medicines.

The measures are designed to encourage countries to better share their experiences, allowing for a more efficient implementation of recommendations made during a meeting of HIV experts in Dakar, Senegal, in December 2015.