Rwanda Hosts International Meeting to Find New Ways to Fight HIV as Foreign Aid Decreases

An international conference has kicked off in Rwanda to discuss efforts to end HIV, at a time when foreign aid that used to support HIV programs has been cut.

This is an annual conference that will last five days. Participants are reviewing the progress made in providing access to modern treatment for people living with HIV.

Florence Riako Anam, Co-Executive Director of the Global Network of People Living with HIV (GNP+) said: “Most importantly, we are here to reflect on the progress made in scientific knowledge. Where has science taken us in terms of treatment how can this knowledge help us shape global strategies that can be implemented by individual countries, these strategies should help design better health programs and improve how services are delivered to people living with HIV, those who need protection from the virus, and those who need treatment so that they can access it in a quality and effective way.”

Jerop Limo, Executive director ambassador for Youth and adolescent health program in Kenya, added: “One of the key issues we will discuss is pushing our governments to act, for a long time, we have relied on foreign aid, in my view, it is time for African countries to start putting more pressure on their governments to allocate domestic budgets to support the fight against HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria. This is now more urgent than ever, we also need to think about community-led programs initiatives that are designed and run by the people they are meant to help, these can help fill the gap we are currently seeing.”

Dr. Mutambuka Deo, the Executive Secretary of the Rwanda Network of People Living with HIV, said the conference is happening at a time when foreign aid that supported people living with HIV has been cut, he stressed the need for strong national efforts and meaningful participation of communities to address the funding gap.

He said: “Self-reliance is a journey, if you look back at where Rwanda has come from and how foreign donors have withdrawn their support over time, I think Rwanda is in a better position. we are lucky to have a government that cares about its people, so I don’t think we were caught by surprise, we expected this to happen and we believe the country’s leadership is ready to work together with us to find sustainable solutions that will reduce new infections.”

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) has reported that since the United States of America stopped its major funding for HIV treatment and prevention programs in Africa, HIV infections have increased, especially among men who have sex with men.

Mukanyandwi Marie Louise