ART Sites, Service Expand in Rwanda

JULY 2004 — The sixth and seventh USAID-supported treatment sites in Rwanda were officially launched this summer at the Masaka Health Center in Kigali Rural Province and Kigeme District Hospital in the Gikongoro Province.

With funding from the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), IMPACT is supporting expansion of services at both sites to provide a complement of treatment services for HIV-positive patients, including antiretroviral treatment (ART) for HIV, STI management, and preventive therapy and treatment for opportunistic infections, including tuberculosis. With the addition of these two new sites, as of July 2004, the number of clients receiving ART services at FHI-supported sites throughout the country rose to 894.

The Masaka Health Center, associated with the Catholic Archdiocese of Kigali, was established in 1967, and serves an estimated population of 40,715 citizens. With support from the Elisabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation and USAID, the center began providing services for the prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission (PMTCT) in 2003. The new services at Masaka will provide ART to 200 patients.

Founded in 1933, Kigeme District Hospital, affiliated with the Episcopalian Church of Rwanda, serves approximately 220,785 citizens and provides support to 10 health centers. The hospital currently offers volunteer counseling and testing and PMTCT services with support from the World Health Organization. One hundred patients will receive ART treatment.

Special guests at the inauguration of the Masaka site on June 25th included Margaret McMillion, U.S. ambassador to Rwanda, and Tim Rieser, chief Democratic clerk to the Senate Foreign Operations Appropriations Committee. Ambassador McMillion spoke about PEPFAR's selection of Rwanda as one of its 15 focus countries, praising the commitment of the Rwandan people and their government to fighting the epidemic. The Kigeme site opened on July 28th.

FHI is already providing support to five other ART sites in Rwanda, including Biryogo Medical and Social Center, Kicukiro Health Center and Gikondo Medical and Social Center in Kigali Ville; Ruli District Hospital in Kigali-Ngali; and Kabgayi District Hospital in Gitarama Province.

Photo: U.S. ambassador to Rwanda, Margaret McMillion, presents a symbolic gift of medications to the first group of Masaka ARV patients. (Jean de Dieu Munyurangabo) View a larger image.