Recent survey findings on new HIV infections among key populations (sex workers) in Gasabo District have revealed that 45 per cent of them do not use condoms, and this is hindering the fight against HIV/AIDS. The survey recommended by Rwanda Biomedical Centre (RBC) was carried out by Afro Ark, a non-government organisation with key interventions in the area of sexual and reproductive health rights and services, including HIV prevention, under the funding of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). The move aims to significantly reduce HIV infections by 2030. In December 2015, the Mayor of the City of Kigali co–signed with the UNAIDS Executive Director the Paris Declaration on Fast Track Cities Initiative to end the AIDS scourge in the cities. The commitment is based on the fact that key populations, such as sex workers, continue to be infected with HIV because the majority of them do not protect themselves and keep on infecting the general population. The survey was carried out on roughly 1,000 women who were tested in Gasabo District in key hotspots around Kagugu, Kinyinya and Kabuye, and 45 per cent responded that they do not use condoms for different reasons. Reasons for not using condoms ranged from trusting each other, to being paid a lot of money, to being requested to do so. They also said that drunkenness prompts carelessness, while others say men reject condoms claiming that they do not feel pleasure when using them. They also say that consuming drugs that prevent HIV infection leads to not using condoms, while others cite shortage of condoms in shops nearby or lack of condom kiosks in their neighbourhoods. 45 per cent of those aged between 15 and 24 said they do use condoms, 18 per cent said they do not use them at all, and 38 per cent say they don’t use them all the time. At least 50 per cent of those aged between 35 and 44 said they use condoms but 18 per cent do not use them, while 32 per cent use them sometimes. According to Patience Iribagiza, Executive Director of Afro Ark, peer education could enforce use of condoms. “We trained 60 people in key populations, meaning 20 in every hotspot, so that they play a role in enforcing their colleagues to use condoms, test for HIV and enrol for HIV treatment,” she says. “We target key populations (that continue to be infected with HIV because the great majority of them do not protect themselves and keep on infecting the general population.” New infections in Gasabo District Alphonse Rutarindwa, Director of Health in Gasabo District, says that 10,477 males and 56,311 females were tested from January to November, 2020 in the district. “Women participate in HIV testing more than men,” he says. The rate of infection was three per cent in males and one per cent in females. “One percent of HIV positivity rate is a big number among females considering that the number of those tested are four times than that of men,” he explains. He says 150 women of 19, 415 women who went for antenatal care services were found HIV positive and that those women didn’t know their status before. “They became aware that they were HIV positive when they reached the hospital. This means those 150 women might have infected a big number of the population. We need more awareness so that pregnant women go for antenatal services,” he says. In general, he says in Gasabo District, over 60,000 men and women were tested from January to November 2020 and 1,074 of them tested positive. “We also have 208 discordant couples,” he adds.
