The outbreak of COVID-19 virus has had serious devastating effects to our beneficiaries who have previous issues of poor health and face stigma and discrimination.
This has also adversely affected them because of lack of food and hence they are not able to take their antiretroviral medications properly.
Human Rights First Rwanda Association through partners and donors embarked on a Humanitarian drive of mobilizing food stuff and other sanitary materials like soaps and face masks to assist them to cope up with the epidemic.
We also undertook a campaign to urge government that the lockdown would be most effective if carried out not only in accordance with the law, but also hand-in-hand with the fulfillment of the government’s obligation to provide basic goods and services to vulnerable community members. Services should be available to all who are in need, including those living in areas under movement restrictions or under quarantine, those infected with Covid-19, and marginalized groups such as Women with HIV/AIDS and people with disabilities.
We continue to mobilize funds to assist our beneficiaries through your support this initiative will continue to be rolled out.
The COVID-19 lockdowns and curfews that has been imposed by the Rwandan government for the last five months has been making it difficult for vulnerable and marginalized people to access critical health services, particularly in remote rural communities. The lockdown and restrictions on transport has been a barrier to accessing health services for mothers and pregnant women living with HIV, putting them and their babies at risk.
Human Rights first Rwanda Association and its partners have been doing a lot of advocacy campaigns targeted to policy makers and Ministry of Health to ensure that mothers who are HIV positive get at least 6 months access to antiretroviral medication because If access to medicine is interrupted, the mother risks passing the virus to her baby, and risks developing health issues herself as a result of the interruption in treatment.
Also as part of the response to COVID-19 pandemic, Human Rights First Rwanda Association and its partners are building the capacity of health centres to deliver antiretroviral treatment and health services at home.
However we still have challenges in respect to providing food supplements for the mothers and children we are hoping well-wishers could come on board and support this initiative.
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Many people living with HIV/AIDS in the southern province of Rwanda and the rest of the country have been acutely affected and have had disruption to HIV services by not being able to access antiretroviral therapy, owing to the overburdened health facilities and the lockdown measures that have been put in place by Government since March the 22nd 2020.
Human Rights First Rwanda Association having a close collaboration with the health services has tried to ensure that people living with HIV/AIDS are not neglected or abandoned during the COVID-19 Epidemic lockdown because there are most vulnerable and due to their weak immune system can contract the virus easily. Through Its direct advocacy it has ensured that people living with HIV/AIDS in the Southern Province of Kamonyi, Muhanga and Ruhango receive a two month supply of antiretroviral therapy. The organization has also successfully lobbied the authorities to use mobile HIV clinic services away from the main Kabgayi Hospital , so people can swiftly pick up their medicines without entering the overcrowded dispensary in the hospital, and has successfully advocated to the authorities and other well-wishers in the provision of food packages for people living with HIV/AIDS for atleast a month and half .
We believe that by joining hands and supporting each other during this unprecendent times, we can help the most Vulnerable and Marginalized people overcome the epidemic, together we are in this.
Reproductive rights are central to HIV advocacy. All individuals, including those living with HIV, have the right to make informed, autonomous decisions about whether to bear a child and, for women, the appropriate care during pregnancy and childbirth. For people with HIV, reproductive decisions can be more complex, involving medical decisions that can drastically reduce the risk of transmission during insemination, pregnancy, childbirth, and feeding.
Women account for more than half the number of people living with HIV in Rwanda. Young women (10-24 years old) are twice as likely to acquire HIV as young men the same age
HIV disproportionately affects women and adolescent girls because of vulnerabilities created by unequal cultural, social and economic status.Unaccommodating attitudes towards sex outside of marriage and the restricted social autonomy of women and young girls can reduce their ability to access sexual health and HIV services.
It is aginst such backround that Human rights First Rwanda embarked on a campaign targeting young girls and mothers teaching them on making informed decisions by using safe methods of protecting themselves against unwanted preganacies by using female condoms and also in the hope of protecting themselves from acquiring or getting infected by HIV/AIDS.
The campaign is on going and hopes to reach out to 20,000 young mothers and young gilrs in Both Kamonyi and Ruhango districts.
Nutrition and HIV are strongly related to each other. A person with HIV infection is more at risk for malnutrition for reasons such as reduced food intake, poor absorption, changes in metabolism, chronic infections and illnesses, anorexia, diarrhoea, fever, nausea, oral and oesophageal infections, and anaemia. The management of those conditions and the provision of nutritional support are effective interventions that are fundamental to other HIV/AIDS care activities.
Its is against such Background that Human Rights First Rwanda Association embarked on a sentization drive to HIV infected moms and also provided them with food stuffs and agriculture seedlings to grow crops and vegetables which are benefecial for their nutrition and Health.
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