Empowering 500 Rwandan women living with HIV/AIDS

Women living with HIV/AIDS, in particular, have been positioned as a latent source of infection, and have captivated culpability and blame leading to a highly stigmatised and discriminated life.

Life for HIV infected women is never easy; they manifest profound physical and psychological consequences. Women bear a ‘triple jeopardy’ impact of HIV/AIDS: as person infected with HIV, as mothers of child, and as carers of partners, parents or orphans with AIDS.

It is against such background that Human Rights First Rwanda Association through its community trained health volunteers continued to offer home based counselling of pregnant women and and families  to promote HIV screening, antenatal care, safe delivery and breastfeeding; 

Our Interventions help to close the gaps that cause mothers and infants to be lost to health services and employ a holistic approach that includes:

1. Prevention of mother to child transmission(PMTCT) which includes the concept of combining prevention and treatment for both mother and child, and incorporates improving reproductive health, antenatal care, safe delivery, and new-born and child health in a continuum of care.

2. Mobilising community members, local leaders and faith based leaders for a supportive environment; 

Human Rights First Rwanda Association and its network partners has also embarked on local and national advocacy to promote system strengthening to ensure that  women living with HIV have access to comprehensive PMTCT services and antiretroviral therapy (ART) for themselves in a stigma free environment;

On 1^st December during world Aids day Human Rights First Rwanda Association and its partners   organized a campaign to sensitize women and men in Kamonyi to voluntarily take tests for HIV/AIDS  In her opening speech during the one week campaign sensitization drive the chair of HRFRA Miss Abera  Fridah stated that more work needed to be done “If we are to achieve the 90-90-90 targets. Today we are summoned to rejuvenate the ‘Know your Status’ campaign because infected persons who do not know their status had the potential to fuel new infections.

Attaining the 90-90-90 target will also ensure that the country achieved the ultimate goal of ending AIDS by 2030 in line with the Sustainable Development Goals.  The 90-90-90 target was set in 2014 under a joint UNAIDS programme on HIV and AIDS and its partners to help end the AIDS epidemic.

It is an ambitious treatment target aimed at diagnosing 90 per cent of all HIV-positive persons, provide antiretroviral therapy for 90 per cent of those diagnosed, and to achieve a viral suppression for 90 per cent of those treated by 2020.

A total number of 2,000 people voluntarily took the tests and were happy to know their status as one women lamented “ I always feared to take the test because my deceased husband had been suspected to have died of Aids but through the sensitization campaigns I was Confident to take the test and I am glad to know that I am not infected with the disease”.