Recently, I was having a chat with a friend involved in providing HIV/AIDS awareness and health services to young people. She told me of how surprised she was with a young girl, who had been just diagnosed with HIV, but asked her what time it took for one to not be able to transmit the virus. “It’s like she was impatient to go back and have sex with her partner(s) for that matter,” my friend said, without disclosing the patient’s identity. “Ask around, many will tell you that they can deal with HIV pills than pregnancy,” she added. All this shows how sexually active the youth nowadays are, and the dangers that come with that if they are not well educated about this, she told me. The latest survey from Rwanda Biomedical centre indicates that 4 percent of young women, and 8 per cent of young men aged 15-24 had sexual intercourse before age 15. At the beginning of last month, the Health Minister, Dr Daniel Ngamije, said there is a new worrying trend we must all work towards uprooting. “The youth today are more scared of becoming pregnant than contracting HIV/AIDS. This is dangerous,” he added. HIV trend among youth Despite HIV prevalence among the general population in Rwanda stabilising and maintained at 3 per cent over the last 15 years, doctors and activists say that there is an increase in cases among young adults aged 15 to 24. According to recent findings from the Rwanda Population-based HIV Impact Assessment (RPHIA) conducted in 2019, HIV prevalence was approximately two or more times greater in older adolescent girls and young women (15-24 years) than in older adolescent boys and young men, 1.2 per cent and 0.5 per cent, respectively. Generally, the prevalence is higher in the City of Kigali at 4.3 per cent and lower in the Northern Province at 2.2 per cent. What is causing this? According to RBC, HIV testing among young women and men decreased from 59 per cent and 49 per cent (2014/15), to 55 per cent and 41 per cent in 2019-20, respectively. Seeking an HIV test may be more difficult for young people than adults, because many young people lack experience in accessing health services for themselves as well as barriers in obtaining services. The anonymous friend (for work reasons) said that young people often shy away from getting HIV pills at health centres because of the stigma they sometimes face, if they are received by untrained old health providers, adding to the mental health issues they have to deal with. Self-testing for HIV among women and men generally increases with increasing education and wealth. Norman Manzi, Founder of Dream Village, an organisation that aims to reduce new infections, stigma and discrimination among young adults and youth living with HIV, said that people’s livelihoods and mind-set, that HIV is no longer a threat, are among drivers of the new trend. “They have normalised it and the level of prevention has lowered because people think that after all, if they are positive, they can access free medication at every health centre,” he mentioned. Manzi said that among other drivers of the increasing prevalence; include limited youth-focused organisations that provide them with needed support. “If you check members of civil society forums, how many of them are working strictly with young people?” he said, adding that even those available mix them with other age categories, which hinders them from taking full advantage of services. Latest data from RBC shows that only 59 per cent of young women and 57 per cent of young men aged 15 to 24 have comprehensive knowledge of HIV/AIDS. It is defined as knowing that consistent use of condoms during sexual intercourse and having just one uninfected faithful partner can reduce the chances of getting HIV, knowing that a healthy-looking person can have HIV. Manzi, therefore, said that interventions need to be invested in creating a platform for these young people to create effective awareness, and make sure medication reaches the desired target, as well as improve resources for organisations that are reaching out.
