Rwanda to share lessons at ICASA 2019

The 20th International Conference on AIDS and STIs in Africa (ICASA), to be held in Kigali in December, will provide an opportunity for Rwandans to share what they have learned about preventing HIV infections and increasing the life expectancy of people living with HIV, The New Times reports. The successful approaches described in the article include providing antiretroviral treatment to all HIV-positive individuals regardless of viral load, decentralizing HIV testing and treatment services to 510 public health facilities, dispatching mobile condom kiosks to “hot spots” of risky sexual activity, and providing voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) services. The proportion of men who were circumcised doubled from 13 percent in 2010 to 30 percent to 2015 (The New Times, 18 November 2019).