Clinical Care Overview
WE-ACTx has provided medical care services, hospital referrals, and HIV counseling and testing for tens of thousands of Rwandans and their families. Currently,our two clinical sites in Rwanda offer comprehensive care, free of charge, for 2,250 patients living with HIV (including 600 children and youth). WE-ACTx’s medical services include confidential HIV testing, clinical evaluation, HIV prophylaxis, antiretroviral treatment (ART), as well as care for opportunistic illness and other medical problems. Our Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT) program at the Nyacyonga Health Center has served over 200 pregnant women since its inception in 2007. There have been no HIV+ children born to mothers in this program since 2009. Post partum support groups provide continued psychosocial support for these women even after their children are born. As part of our efforts to support our patients’ overall health and adherence to ART, our nutritional support program distributes sosoma (a highly-nutritional, locally-sourced porridge) each month to the families of 250 malnourished youth who are currently on ART. WE-ACTx’s medical care programs are highly integrated with our extensive psychosocial support services, income-generation initiatives, and research studies. We believe that working with our patients to overcome the many obstacles that can interfere with continued self-care is essential to helping the communities we serve live well with HIV.
Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT)
In collaboration with our grassroots partners and the Rwandan government, WE-ACTx has provided Voluntary Counseling and Testing services (VCT) since October 2005, testing over thousands of people.
We provide VCT using a family-centered model, with all family members of people living with HIV/AIDS being encouraged to test. Identifying HIV infection in multiple family members, and referring them to immediate medical care prevents the family from having to choose which members will receive treatment, and from sharing their medications (which results in inadequate treatment and can lead to virologic resistance to ART).
Currently WE-ACTx provides VCT at both the Centreville and Nyacyonga clinics.
Women's Equity in Access to Care & Treatment