The Ministry of Health, through the Rwanda Biomedical Centre (RBC), has launched a new anti-HIV/AIDS drive that will see people living with the virus get a 3-month dosage of anti-retro viral drugs (ARVs) in order to cut monthly movements to get the drugs.

This was announced, yesterday, as Rwanda joined the rest of the world to mark the World AIDS Day, that falls on December 1 annually, to pay tribute to all those who have lost their lives to AIDS, reflect the progress made in responding to the epidemic, and recommit to ending it and to empower people living with the virus.

Yesterday’s event took place in Kigali’s Nyamirambo suburb, and featured a march from Onatracom offices to Kigali Regional Stadium, where speeches were made, and many people underwent free HIV testing, among other activities.

Announcing the new drive, James Kamanzi, the Deputy Director General of RBC, said the new effort will help the country reach its targets in the campaign against HIV/AIDS, including the 2030 global target of completely wiping out new infections.

In the new campaign, the ministry also aims at raising HIV awareness among all citizens, which they intend to achieve through sensitisation, creating partnerships with local leaders, and giving space to members of the community to explore different measures of HIV prevention.

The campaign is part of broader efforts to create community ownership in fighting new HIV infections and better utilisation of the available anti-HIV services.

Asumpta Kampororo, a 44 year old woman who has lived with HIV for 22 years, welcomed the initiative, and urged other infected people to keep taking their ARVs regularly in order to get the energy needed to work for their own and national development.

Speaking on behalf of the United Nations HIV Team in Rwanda, Dr Olushayo Olu, the country representative of the World Health Organisation, commended the country’s anti-HIV efforts.

"Rwanda has managed to stabilise HIV prevalence at 3 per cent in the general population (15-49 years) over the last decade, and reduced transmission rate of HIV from mother to child to less than 2 per cent over the last 3 years,” he said.

He added: "The government has also managed to get about 82 per cent of those living with HIV on ARVs treatment, and Rwanda is also one of the first countries to introduce the treat-all policy with good results.”

Olu, however, warned against complacency that may arise as a result of the country’s recent success in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

Speaking at the event, Dr Patrick Ndimubazi, the Minister of State in charge of Public Health and Primary Health Care, reminded the public that HIV/AIDS is still a serious problem in the country and the world at large.

He called for concerted efforts from all individuals and institutions in the fight against the virus.

The minister also urged people to make use of all the national programmes in place to fight against HIV, expressing optimism that by 2030, the desired target of zero new infections will be hit.

Reports show that HIV is still a major concern globally. In 2015, an estimated 36.7 million people were living with HIV, including 1.8 million children.

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