Discordant couples have been called upon to start taking Anti Retroviral Treatment (ART) as soon as they learn of their HIV positive status. The call was made during a two-day workshop on Rwanda HIV/AIDS updates and National Guidelines Revision Workshop.
Discordant couples have been called upon to start taking Anti Retroviral Treatment (ART) as soon as they learn of their HIV positive status.
The call was made during a two-day workshop on Rwanda HIV/AIDS updates and National Guidelines Revision Workshop.
The Deputy Director General of Rwanda Biomedical Centre, Dr Anita Asiimwe, said that if the infected partner starts ART early enough, then the risk of spreading the virus to the other partner is reduced.
Asimwe is in charge of the Institute of HIV/AIDS Disease Prevention and Control at RBC.
"Rwanda has registered more than 90 percent ART coverage. Discordant couples can have access to them in the early stages of infection,” Asiimwe said, adding that this will lower the risk of transmission.
She also stated that putting eligible HIV-infected patients on ART alleviates their suffering and reduces the devastating impact of the pandemic.
Dr Muhayimpundu Ribakare, the head of HIV and STI’s care and treatment unit at the RBC, emphasised that it is still a challenge to convince couples to go for testing.
"The biggest challenge we have here in Rwanda, is that few couples go for HIV testing. Many of them are not aware of their status hence infecting others,” Muhayimpundu said.
Ends