Rwanda: MoH Conducts Survey on HIV Prevalence

Rwanda’s Biomedical Centre (RBC), through the Ministry of Health, is conducting its first national survey on behavioral, clinical, and biologic indicators for HIV/AIDS.

Two provinces already have completed the survey, which began in mid-June. According to Dr. Sabin Nsanzimana, head of RBC’s HIV, STI, and “other blood borne infections” division, the survey provided population-based estimates of HIV prevalence and occurrence and the behavioral risk factors, useful data for program planning and evaluation, and help in effective monitoring and evaluation of national HIVAIDS programs.

Ultimately, the survey would help RBC track the ministry’s progress toward reaching the National Strategic Plan goal and the millennium development goal of stopping the spread of HIV/AIDS by 2015.

The survey population included all women ages 15–49 and men 15–59 who resided in sampled households and consented to interviews and testing. The survey consisted of two categories: testing blood samples and question and answer. The survey will end in three months.