Tenth IMPACT-Supported Site Offers ART Services in Rwanda

KIGALI, Rwanda—On April 26, 2005, Ruhango Health Center became the tenth antiretroviral therapy (ART) site supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and Family Health International's IMPACT Project with funding made available under the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.

The Catholic Mission facility will receive technical and financial assistance from USAID and FHI/IMPACT to provide life-saving ART drugs to at least 120 HIV-positive patients by the end of 2005.

Ruhango Health Center serves a largely rural population of 43,000 and started offering HIV testing services in 1996.  Since September 2003 the center has benefited from USAID and FHI assistance when HIV testing services were expanded to offer voluntary pre- and post-test counseling. The center also later launched one of the first prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT) programs funded through the President's International Mother and Child HIV Prevention Initiative.

The launch of this tenth site represents a major milestone in the Emergency Plan's effort to treat 50,000 HIV-positive individuals in Rwanda by the end of 2008. By the end of March 2004, the nine previous sites receiving USAID and FHI/IMPACT assistance were providing 1,778 individuals with ART and other medical services.

Photo: Ruhango Health Center staff pose outside the central building of the center, celebrating the grand opening. (FHI/IMPACT) View a larger image.