Background
The National Strategic Plan-HIV/TB (NSP-HIV/TB) project aims at reducing the disproportion of new HIV infections among the key populations by specifically offering interventions that advocate for their access to health services, their rights of living the destigmatized environment and their capacity building to remain equipped with ways of protecting themselves.
In Rwanda, the HIV prevalence has remained stable on 3 percent since 2005 and effort is made to push it downward. Though this rate seems low, the prevalence among the key population is high compared to other general population. This population is still facing the difficulties in accessing health services needed for prevention. In fact some of key population like "men who have sex with men" get stigmatized hence unable to access preventive services.
Rwanda HIV national Strategic Plan informs the need of interventions that target key population to avail advocacy and needed support for HIV prevention. National Strategic Plan-HIV/TB Global Fund Project is designed in this line and get implemented in partnership with Rwanda Biomedical Center. It is implemented with the general orientation to HIV prevention among key population (Female Sex Workers, Men who have sex with men, Transgender and Injecting Drugs Users).
Program Situation
FXB Rwanda partners with Rwanda Biomedical Center to implement this project in the districts of Kamonyi, Gakenke and Musanze with that aim of reducing the new HIV infections among key populations. The target key population are facilitated in advocacy for their rights of exercising the same opportunities as the rest general population without community stigmatization. The capacity building is also done providing the key population knowledge and sustained behaviors around HIV and its prevention, their rights, treatment care protocols, HIV risk analysis and their testing.
The program also provides the interventions targeting the whole surrounding community through awareness campaigns to destigmatize this population so as to remain open, accessing HIV-AIDS health services, exercising their rights as the rest of the general population, hence the reduction of HIV new infection. Finally the program avail the protective materials to key population and support the linkage and access to health services as needed. The key population are further engaged in economic empowerment interventions by training them on the key concepts on income generation to be able to improve their well-being.
Program Strategies
Community Outreach through Peer Educators : The program works with the community peer educators who are living in the implementation area and are capacitated to support their fellows. The package targeting the key population got transferred through their fellow peer educators which eases the work and make the objectives achievable.
Engaging Stakeholders : The FXB Staff personnel work with community actors to engage them in making these messages reach and get understood to the designated population. The meetings, discussions and concerns are exchanged between the actors and project’s implementers to improve more.
