RRP wants to involve HIV positive individuals in AIDS fight

RWAMAGANA - People living with HIV should be involved in AIDS prevention campaigns, an official of the Rwanda Net Work of People living with HIV/AIDS (RRP+) has said. Faustin Machara, in charge of health and nutrition at RRP+, was speaking at the closure of two-day training for over 25 people living with the virus in Rwamagana, on how to live positively and positive prevention. He revealed that they have initiated a new approach to HIV prevention, known as Positive Prevention (PP). “Positive Prevention calls upon HIV positive people to live responsibly, and avoid spreading the virus to others. We want them to change interpersonal relationships and attitude towards condoms,” he said. According to Charles Munana, coordinator of RRP+ in Rwamagana, the training brought together peer educators from six sectors of Rwamagana district. “The trainees are expected to go down and disseminate the knowledge they have received, to the people they represent in their respective sectors,” Munana said. Jean Damascène Ndahayo, who has been living with the virus since 2004, said that the training they received was of paramount importance to them. “The more education people get, the more they change. From here the HIV positive know that use of condoms curtails re-infection or infection of negative people,” he said. People living with HIV/AIDS in the district have formed cooperatives, through which they get assistance and training to develop themselves. Ends