The Rwanda Aids Indicator Survey (RAIS) has revealed that many Rwandans are still ignorant about basic information in the fight against HIV/Aids. The 2013 preliminary report, presented by the Rwanda Biomedical Centre (RBC) during the 2014 International HIV Research Conference in Kigali, last week, painted a not so rosy picture as far as HIV/Aids awareness is concerned. Out of the 14,298 respondents interviewed in the survey, 32.2 percent of females and 31.1 percent of males, said they think that HIV/Aids can be transmitted by mosquito bites. This is not good news for the HIV fight efforts. It shows that despite the several sensitisation programmes in place, more needs to be done to educate the population, especially the illiterates about HIV/Aids. HIV continues to be a major global public health issue, having claimed more than 39 million lives so far, according to World Health Organisation statistics. Sub-Saharan Africa is the most affected region, with 24.7 million people living with HIV in 2013. The same sub-region accounts for almost 70 per cent of the global total of new HIV infections. All stakeholders, especially leaders at the grassroots should increase efforts in HIV/Aids fight through door to door sensitisation campaigns. The government has invested resources and Rwanda has been hailed as a model in the fight against HIV. These achievements should be consolidated while at the same time ensuring that the remaining challenges in the fight are continuously addressed. Among the strategies that the country is pushing to reduce infections is stepping up the circumcision campaign. In this context, about 700,000 men are expected to undergo non-surgical male circumcision by 2016.
