UNICEF
has welcomed the announcement of a national campaign to eliminate the vertical
transmission of HIV from mother to child in Rwanda and confirmed its commitment
to support the government in ensuring that all women in need will be reached
with a new, more efficacious HIV regimen by 2015.
The campaign was launched on Thursday last week by Rwanda’s First Lady, Mrs.
Jeannette Kagame, in the presence of the Minister of Health and other
government officials, UNICEF’s Regional Director for Eastern and South Africa,
Elhadj As Sy, representatives of the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS
Relief (PEPFAR) and other bilateral partners as well as the President of the
Elizabeth Glazer Pediatric AIDS Foundation.
UNICEF
is co-championing the call for the elimination of mother-to-child transmission
of HIV by 2015. UNICEF Regional Director As Sy said he was confident that
Rwanda can meet its goal of reducing the transmission rate among children born
to women living with HIV to less than 2 per cent. “In order to achieve this
goal, we have to make sure that all pregnant women with HIV can participate in
prevention programmes, including adolescent girls and those living in remote
areas. UNICEF stands ready to support the government in identifying the gaps in
access and in removing bottlenecks that prevent women from making use of the
existing life-saving services.”
As
part of the elimination campaign, Rwanda plans to ensure that all HIV positive
women receive the most efficacious ARV regimens through expanded coverage of
quality services. Furthermore, the government wants to make sure that pregnant
women access health services earlier, that HIV incidence among women of
reproductive age is reduced, that comprehensive knowledge on HIV prevention is
increased and that all women have access to family planning. Rwanda has a birth
rate of 2.8 per cent with a fertility rate of 5.3 per cent. It is also
Africa’s most densely populated country.
The
campaign will strengthen the links between MCH and HIV programmes and further
enhance the already high involvement of male partners in prevention and testing
programmes.
Although
Rwanda has one of the lowest HIV prevalence rates amongst pregnant women in
Eastern and Southern Africa – currently standing at a national average of 4.3
per cent – rates in the capital Kigali are much higher (between 16 and 34
per cent).
More
than 20,000 children below the age of 15 live with HIV in Rwanda. Over 90 per
cent have been infected through vertical transmission. HIV positive women
can transmit HIV to their children during pregnancy, delivery or breastfeeding.
Without intervention, the risk of transmission is more than 30 per cent.
The
Government of Rwanda, through the support of international partners, including
UNICEF, has been able to significantly increase the provision of PMTCT
services.
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