Message from the Country Director

Dr. Gene MacDonald, Country Director CDC Rwanda (Photo: CDC)

Muraho! Happy New Year! And a very warm welcome to both our new and longtime readers of Kabeho! This is our first Kabeho newsletter of 2017. It gives us here on the CDC Rwanda team a chance to share the successes, challenges, and opportunities of our work in Rwanda with you, our valued partners and supporters. This is also our first Kabeho e-newsletter, marking a shift from our previous PDF format. Let us know what you think of the new format. It is our hope that the new format makes our newsletter and stories more easily accessible to you.

2016 was a landmark year for Rwanda’s HIV/AIDS and TB mitigation efforts. Some of the highlights were:

TREAT ALL: In July 2016, Rwanda adopted the ‘Treat All’ HIV patients strategy, and currently 97% of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHIV) in care are on antiretroviral therapy (ART). Rwanda has also achieved one of the highest national ART coverage rates in sub-Saharan Africa, reaching an estimated 80% of those eligible for ART. CDC Rwanda has helped strengthen the scope, quality, and sustainability of Rwanda’s ART services.

DIFFERENTIATED HIV CARE AND TREATMENT: On December 1, 2016, Rwanda became one of the first countries in Africa to implement the Differentiated Service Delivery Model (DSDM) on a national scale. DSDM focuses on increasing the spacing of ART drug pickups and clinical visits among stable HIV patients from 1 to 3 months for drug pickups and from 3 to 6 months for clinical visits, in order to have more time to focus HIV/AIDS care and treatment services on unstable patients. Read more about Rwanda’s DSDM success story.

TB TREATMENT SUCCESS RATES: TB treatment success rates in Rwanda increased from 58% in 2003 to 90% by mid-2016. In 2016 all health facilities that offered TB services also provided directly observed TB treatment (DOTS).

PMTCT: As of June 2016, 98% of all healthcare facilities in Rwanda were providing services for preventing mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV. Among pregnant women attending antenatal care, the national acceptance rate for HIV testing was 98%. Program data show the mother-to-child transmission rate at 18 months is 1.76%, representing a significant reduction of HIV transmission from mother to child and illustrating Rwanda’s ability to achieve Elimination of Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV.

LABORATORY SYSTEMS QUALITY IMPROVEMENT: In 2016, Rwanda’s National Center for Blood Transfusion (NCBT) qualified for the highest (level 3) award in international standards accreditation from the African Society for Blood Transfusion (AfSBT).The award means NCBT is now an internationally recognized center of excellence in blood transfusion practice able to offer technical expertise to other countries. Rwanda is the second country in Africa after Namibia to receive this highest international standards accreditation. Read more about the NCBT success story.

As Country Director of the CDC Rwanda Program, I am very proud of what the Government of Rwanda, with support from our team and other partners, was able to accomplish in 2016.

We now look ahead to 2017 and the challenging work of realizing the global target of an AIDS-Free Generation by 2020 as well as Rwanda’s national target of ending AIDS in Rwanda by 2030. Partnership is the key to achieving these targets. No one group can do it on its own.

2017 also marks a milestone for CDC Rwanda. It marks 15 years of CDC’s work in Rwanda. CDC Rwanda officially opened its offices in Rwanda in 2002 under CDC’s Global AIDS Program (GAP). This year we will run a campaign “Celebrating 15 years of CDC’s work in Rwanda.” We look forward to sharing the stories of our 15-year journey with you. Follow the @CDCRwanda Twitter account to get the latest updates.

I invite you to read through the rest of this e-newsletter and find out more of what CDC is doing in Rwanda. Hear from Pamela Gruduah, our immediate former Deputy Country Director, who left us for a new post at CDC Atlanta, as she recounts her experience in Rwanda. Read her farewell message to staff and partners. Welcome Drs. Lisa Mills, Janise Richards, Christina Mwangi, and Jared Omolo along with Richard Mwesigwa, Arnold Wafula, and Kristine Wagner, who all recently joined our team. Thanks and best wishes to Dr. Philippe Mutwa, Pamela Gruduah, Nicole Mukunzi, Lindsay Little, and Dr. Antoine Rwego, who have recently left us. Read our Staff Updates to get up to speed on our most recent staff arrivals and departures. Familiarize yourself with the scientific articles CDC and its partners published in 2016. Also read our Success Stories and much more.

Murakoze!

Dr. Gene MacDonald
Country Director
CDC Rwanda