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Issue
4, July 2005
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Welcome
to the fourth issue of.  ,
the monthly newsletter from the MSD Interpharma HIV Team.
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HIV@MSD is the monthly newsletter from the MSD Interpharma
HIV Team who provides support for the development and implementation
of comprehensive HIV/AIDS strategies that are conducted in
partnership with many different national programs,
with private sector entrepreneurs, and with bilateral
organizations. Through their newsletter, the Team would
like to share with you the lessons they have learned from
these projects and activities.
Rwanda
is a landlocked country of eight million inhabitants located
in central Africa known as the "Land of a Thousand Hills".
For some people, this green country is synonymous with the
Source of the River Nile, for others Dian Fossey's final residence
next to Digit, her preferred gorilla. For all of us the worldwide
fame of its mountain gorillas is ousted by the tragic memory
of a genocide that occurred eleven years ago, killing one
million Rwandese people.
In
1994, no schools, hospitals, factories were functioning.
Nor were public utilities like telephone, electricity and
water. The economy had collapsed. Survivors of the genocide
were scattered across the country, deeply traumatized.
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Since
then, three and a half million Rwandans have been repatriated
and
resettled, a record in refugee history; the government has
put great emphasis on initiatives focusing on reconciliation,
justice, democratization, security and economy. Health has
become a major concern especially with HIV/AIDS spreading
among the genocide victims.
The decentralization
of HIV/AIDS prevention, care and treatment has
become a priority for the government. Significant progress
has already been made, but as a young HIV patient said: "It's
a pity that HIV treatment centers do not mushroom as fast
as Cyber Cafés nowadays in Rwanda".
"Our
decentralization program is not perfect but we are trying
our best to make it work efficiently" declares Dr
Louis Munyakazi, Director of Kigali-based Treatment and Research
AIDS Center (TRAC), the coordinating body for the country's
decentralization project. "We do not want to build
a castle on sand" he adds.
A Photo
Journal entitled "Taking HIV
treatment to Rwandans: a new beginning" summarizes
the roll out of a decentralization initiative, addressing
important challenges for the nation such as infrastructure,
poverty and malnutrition....................Find
out more!
According to TRAC's national statistics, 8,939 adults aged
above 15 were on antiretroviral treatment as of March 2005.
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