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First Lady of Rwanda Launches DFID Sponsored Antiretroviral Programme for Women Survivors
Kigali– 7th December 2005
The First Lady of Rwanda, Mrs Jeanette Kagame, today launches a five-year programme funded by the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) to help 2500 women survivors of the Rwandan genocide raped and infected with HIV/AIDS access antiretroviral treatment (ART). The programme is coordinated in partnership by Survivors Fund and PACFA.
The programme will enable 2500 HIV+ women survivors and their families to access family based care including ART & comprehensive care services. This is being achieved by enhancing the capacity of 4 local health clinics offering HIV/AIDS and their outreach services, already established. At present only 99 women survivors have access to ART, 23 of them as a result of private funding by SURF. Put into context, less than 5,000 people in the entire country of Rwanda currently have access to antiretroviral treatment.
Founder and Director of SURF, Mary Kayitesi Blewitt, commented:
“This programme is a true landmark for survivors of the Rwandan genocide. It will not only have a massive impact on the lives of the 2500 HIV+ women survivors, but on the lives of their many dependents - in particular the thousands of children, and orphans they care for. It will also give vital hope to other women living with HIV and will encourage further testing.”
She added:
“We are eternally grateful for the incredible support of the British public, which has played an instrumental role in securing this funding from the British Government. But the launch of this programme does not mark the end of our campaign, but merely the first step towards SURF supporting more of the women affected and infected with HIV/AIDS as a result of the genocide. The real challenge now is to engage more governments to add to DFID’s funding, to enable us to help more women survivors in Rwanda.”
On the grant, a spokesperson from the Department for International Development said:
“DFID is proud to be able to support SURF and PACFA with a £4.25 million grant to fund this vital five-year project to provide comprehensive support, care and treatment to 2500 women, and girls, who were raped and infected with HIV/AIDS, in the Rwandan genocide of 1994. SURF and PACFA both have an established track record of delivering HIV/AIDS projects in the field and are already working together to create the space and capacity for a programme of this unprecedented scale.”
She added:
“Eleven years on from the genocide, we hope others will now contribute to SURF's campaign to help the thousands more women survivors still needing access to treatment.”
The Care and Treatment Project for Genocide Survivors infected with HIV/AIDS, is an initiative aimed at alleviating some of the problems faced by women genocide survivors who were raped during genocide, infected with HIV/AIDS and made vulnerable to poverty as a consequence of genocide. The Project aims to improve the living conditions of these women and their dependents and give them hope to live. More specifically the project will:
- Offer Community based care and provide Antiretroviral therapy (ART) to 1500 HIV+ women genocide survivors and up to 1000 of their dependents;
- Enhance the capacity of four local non-government clinics offering ART and other medical care to conform to the national HIV/AIDS care and treatment norms;
- Strengthen community based services including palliative care, food security, social support and initiate income generating activities for concerned families;
- Gradually facilitate women genocide survivors to access existing national services for HIV/AIDS care and support and participate in broader community level programmes.
The project is coordinated in partnership by PACFA and SURF and will be implemented at four centres, which provide care and support for survivors; AVEGA Central, AVEGA Eastern (Rwamagana), Solace Ministries and Rwanda Women Network.
For her campaigning work, Mary Kayitesi Blewitt this week was nominated for the Morgan Stanley Great Briton ’05 Award, which recognises contributions that make Britain so great.
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