Lessons from Integrated HIV Care for Women in Rwanda

This panel will present lessons learned from Women's Equity in Access to Care and Treatment (WE-ACTx)'s work in Rwanda providing HIV care for women and their families. WE-ACTx 's model of primary health care service delivery is guided by a commitment to local women's empowerment, decentralized health service delivery through the public sector, program planning based on community-identified needs, and a family-centered model of health care and support service delivery. Our HIV treatment and other clinical care services are wrapped around primary care and other support services organized through deep community outreach via local grassroots partner associations. Currently WE-ACTx works with 24 local partner associations, providing training and support to association members, and collaborating in the implementation of a variety of prevention and education & support services for community members, i.e. mobile counseling and testing services (VCT), trauma counseling for both women and children who receive testing services or have been subject to sexual violence, home visits by nurses and peer advocates to assist children and parents with medical follow-up and adherence to medications, nutritional needs and mental health issues, assistance with design and implementation of income-generating activities for association members, training in rights and legal self-advocacy for HIV+ persons, and support for children's education and nutritional needs. The speakers will address these areas in detail.