Gasabo health partners urged on HIV prevention coordination

Stakeholders on HIV prevention in Gasabo District need to strengthen their coordination to provide adolescents in the district with more access to HIV information and services, an official has said. Ellen Nyiranyamwibwa, the Gasabo director of health, made the call last week, noting that enforcing coordination within all the organisations will help determine where the problem is and be able to address it. “Without clear information about what is taking place, some health partners tend to select sectors and leave out the others. However, when all stakeholders know which organisations are being involved, and learn from each other what kind of interventions are being carried out, it’s easier to improve the planning and decide on the areas of work,” she said. The meeting was aimed at presenting the mapping findings of stakeholders involved in different interventions in the district as well as informing the stakeholders involved, especially in HIV interventions. It also sought to increase collaboration among the stakeholders and discuss the tools that will help the district to continue updating the stakeholders that are intervening in HIV. The meetings will be conducted quarterly. According to the mapping, that was conducted mid this year, Kimironko, Gisozi, Gatsata and Jabana sectors do not have health centres, while other health centres do not provide an equal HIV healthcare services like the rest. The mapping was carried out by Health Development Initiative (HDI) and supported by UNICEF. Aflodis Kagaba, the executive director of HDI, noted that there was need to know from the health partners about their interventions such condom distribution and referral services. “This will help in avoiding duplication of efforts and creating more complementality among the different stakeholders that are trying to contribute to the fight against HIV in the district with a special focus on adolescence,” he said. In improving HIV prevention and response for adolescents in Gasabo District, HDI, with support from UNICEF, also intends to provide HIV information and linkage services to 14,000 adolescents, whereby 1,750 will be tested for HIV, and 1000 male adolescents circumcised. editorial@newtimes.co.rw

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Gasabo health partners urged on HIV prevention coordination