Saramba eric

[Saramba eric @saeric25]

Our latest publication below discusses COVID-19 and mental health services in SSA
https://t.co/inlw4UvMke

[Saramba eric @saeric25]

What the community data asks of us:
✅ KP registers in every facility
✅ KP-friendly provider training
✅ Equitable access to condoms, lubricants, PrEP & PEP
✅ CLM beyond Nyarugenge & Kicukiro
@RwandaHealth @RwandaNGOForum #KeyPopulations

[Rwanda NGOs Forum on HIV/AIDS and H.P @RwandaNGOForum]

Thank you, @Winnie_Byanyima , for recognizing Rwanda’s community-led HIV response.
🇷🇼Rwanda stands at 96-98-98. However, the national averages can hide the people the system still misses.

With @UNAIDSRwanda support at every stage, from design to advocacy, we and our partners put service users in charge of monitoring the services they use.

📊 Community-led monitoring in Nyarugenge & Kicukiro:

1. 1,291 structured interviews in 10 health facilities: 744 with key populations (incl. 33 transgender people), 364 with AGYW, 183 with people with disabilities
2. 50 community monitors (25 women, 25 men) collecting data by smartphone on the iCLM system for community data management, for the first of its kind.
3. 20 master trainers, with average scores up from 54% to 88%
4. District stakeholders’ CLM knowledge in Nyarugenge up from 17% to 96%
5. 2 district CLM task teams bringing facilities and community representatives to one table

📜 From evidence to policy for adolescents and young people:

1. An ethics-approved national assessment in 4 districts: 384 respondents, 79 key informant interviews
2. 50 policy briefs and a dialogue with 45 senior leaders from Health, Education, Gender and Youth
3. A commitment from @RBCRwanda to scale up confidential youth corners
4. A primary-school CSE toolkit co-created with @REBRwanda and @UNFPARwanda .

Built with @RwandaHealth and @RBCRwanda , and with @FXBRwanda , SFR, HDI, IMRO, ANSP+, UPHLS and RICH.
The next chapter of the HIV response must be community-led, community-owned and equity-driven.
Full story: https://t.co/Lx4IsHuBe1

#LetCommunityLead #EndAIDS2030 #KeyPopulations #HealthyAdolescentRw #HealthEquity #LeaveNoOneBehind

@nsanzimanasabin @YvanButera @JNdayizigiye @HindHassan_ @CMuvunyi @TuyishimeAlbert @AndrewGasoziNtw @REBRwanda @RwandaGender @Rwanda_Edu @Uni_Rwanda @unicefrw @WHORwanda @HDIRwanda @FXBRwanda @Sfrwanda1 @ImroRwanda @Ansp_Rwanda @uphls @rrpplus @InterfaithRda @UNAIDS @UNAIDS_ESA @GlobalFund @AfricaCDC @iasociety @gnpplus @GlobalSexWork @frontlineaids @Knooliet

[Winnie Byanyima @Winnie_Byanyima]

The next chapter of the HIV response must be community-led and equity-driven, with communities at the centre and empowered to help shape the decisions that affect their lives. 🇷🇼 Rwanda is showing what that looks like in practice.
@RwandaNGOForum @UNAIDS_ESA
#UnitedToEndAIDS
👇🏾
https://t.co/F5dS13OhfY

[Rwanda NGOs Forum on HIV/AIDS and H.P @RwandaNGOForum]

Thank you, @Winnie_Byanyima , for recognizing Rwanda’s community-led HIV response.
🇷🇼Rwanda stands at 96-98-98. However, the national averages can hide the people the system still misses.

With @UNAIDSRwanda support at every stage, from design to advocacy, we and our partners put service users in charge of monitoring the services they use.

📊 Community-led monitoring in Nyarugenge & Kicukiro:

1. 1,291 structured interviews in 10 health facilities: 744 with key populations (incl. 33 transgender people), 364 with AGYW, 183 with people with disabilities
2. 50 community monitors (25 women, 25 men) collecting data by smartphone on the iCLM system for community data management, for the first of its kind.
3. 20 master trainers, with average scores up from 54% to 88%
4. District stakeholders’ CLM knowledge in Nyarugenge up from 17% to 96%
5. 2 district CLM task teams bringing facilities and community representatives to one table

📜 From evidence to policy for adolescents and young people:

1. An ethics-approved national assessment in 4 districts: 384 respondents, 79 key informant interviews
2. 50 policy briefs and a dialogue with 45 senior leaders from Health, Education, Gender and Youth
3. A commitment from @RBCRwanda to scale up confidential youth corners
4. A primary-school CSE toolkit co-created with @REBRwanda and @UNFPARwanda .

Built with @RwandaHealth and @RBCRwanda , and with @FXBRwanda , SFR, HDI, IMRO, ANSP+, UPHLS and RICH.
The next chapter of the HIV response must be community-led, community-owned and equity-driven.
Full story: https://t.co/Lx4IsHuBe1

#LetCommunityLead #EndAIDS2030 #KeyPopulations #HealthyAdolescentRw #HealthEquity #LeaveNoOneBehind

@nsanzimanasabin @YvanButera @JNdayizigiye @HindHassan_ @CMuvunyi @TuyishimeAlbert @AndrewGasoziNtw @REBRwanda @RwandaGender @Rwanda_Edu @Uni_Rwanda @unicefrw @WHORwanda @HDIRwanda @FXBRwanda @Sfrwanda1 @ImroRwanda @Ansp_Rwanda @uphls @rrpplus @InterfaithRda @UNAIDS @UNAIDS_ESA @GlobalFund @AfricaCDC @iasociety @gnpplus @GlobalSexWork @frontlineaids @Knooliet

[Strive Foundation Rwanda @Sfrwanda1]

Today, SFR,with other #TUBITEHOCoalition partners& with support from @expertisefrance,conducted the dissemination of National Guidelines on Harm Reduction to relevant stakeholders in @Gasabo_District ,promoting coordinated,evidence-based&non-discriminatory harm reduction services

[Rwanda NGOs Forum on HIV/AIDS and H.P @RwandaNGOForum]

When stress hits, who’s your go-to person? In this video, some of our colleagues share who they turn to during stressful times.

As we mark World Mental Health Month, remember that you can confide in someone you trust or seek professional help when you need it. Your mental health matters.

#WorldMentalHealthMonth #BreakTheStigma #SeekSupport #CounsellingMatters

[Rwanda NGOs Forum on HIV/AIDS and H.P @RwandaNGOForum]

Breaking Barriers, Advancing Reproductive Justice and Safe Abortion Care Through Collective Action

Last week, @RwandaNGOForum joined fellow Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), stakeholders, healthcare providers and community members in Gitesi Sector of @KarongiDistr , to mark International Safe Abortion Day 2026, observed annually on 28 September.

Under the theme “Solidarity in Action: Advance Reproductive Justice and Urgently Strengthen Health Systems for Comprehensive Abortion Care”, the event provided a platform for open community dialogue on safe abortion and comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and rights (#SRHR), helping to challenge stigma and misinformation while highlighting the importance of accurate information and respectful, confidential, youth-friendly care.

Through the recognition of healthcare provider champions, the provision of essential family planning services, HIV testing, access to SRHR information and artistic performances, the event reinforced a shared commitment to ensuring accessible, quality reproductive health services for all, particularly adolescents and young people.

#SRHR #ISAD2026 #AdvancingHealthRights #SolidarityInAction #InternationalSafeAbortionDay

[Ministry of Health | Rwanda @RwandaHealth]

On Day 1 of the working visit to Switzerland, Minister @nsanzimanasabin , together with RDB Deputy CEO @JulianaMuganza met in Bern with Federal Councillor Elisabeth Baume-Schneider, Head of Switzerland’s Federal Department of Home Affairs, which oversees the federal health portfolio.

The discussions reaffirmed the strong Rwanda-Switzerland partnership and explored opportunities to further deepen cooperation, particularly in digital health, health workforce development, epidemic preparedness and response, research, and life sciences partnerships.

[Sengoga Christopher @NdahiroChris]

As a member of this network, I am proud that key populations stay at the heart of the national response. Thank you, @RwandaNGOForum, for convening and coordinating civil society. #CivilSociety #KeyPopulations

[Saramba eric @saeric25]

HIV isn't just a statistic — it's stigma, distance, and fear people face daily, which is why community-led monitoring matters. Grateful to @UNAIDSRwanda and @RwandaNGOForum for keeping civil society and key populations central to Rwanda's HIV response. @RBCRwanda @RwandaHealth

[Saramba eric @saeric25]

HIV isn't just a statistic — it's stigma, distance, and fear people face daily, which is why community-led monitoring matters. Grateful to @UNAIDSRwanda and @RwandaNGOForum for keeping civil society and key populations central to Rwanda's HIV response. @RBCRwanda @RwandaHealth

[Rwanda NGOs Forum on HIV/AIDS and H.P @RwandaNGOForum]

Putting Communities First: Transforming HIV and SRHR Through Partnership in Rwanda

Rwanda’s HIV response is a global reference point, having reached remarkable milestones with adult targets now standing at 96-98-98. However, national averages can sometimes hide the people the system still misses.

In this compelling article, we highlight the impactful power of collaboration and partnership between the @RwandaNGOForum and @UNAIDSRwanda in putting key and priority populations, including FSW, MSM, transgender people, PWID/PWUD, people with disabilities, and AGYW, at the center of the HIV and SRHR response through Community-Led Monitoring (CLM), data-driven advocacy, and policy transformation.

Read the full article here: https://t.co/Lx4IsHu3ot

How can we better leverage community-led monitoring (CLM) and SRHR initiatives to reach the last mile and ensure no one is left behind in our health responses? Share your thoughts in the comments below and keep the conversation going.

#LetCommunityLead #EndAIDS2030 #KeyPopulations #HealthyAdolescentRw #HealthEquity

@RwandaHealth @RBCRwanda @nsanzimanasabin @JNdayizigiye @UNAIDS @WHORwanda @BrianChirombo @CMuvunyi @UNAIDS_ESA @RichardAmenyah @AndrewGasoziNtw @Knooliet @J_Umuhire @HDIRwanda @ImroRwanda @Sfrwanda1 @FXBRwanda @TuyishimeAlbert @Rwanda_CCM @mwanaimable @DMbituyumuremyi @aflodiskagaba

[Rwanda NGOs Forum on HIV/AIDS and H.P @RwandaNGOForum]

Putting Communities First: Transforming HIV and SRHR Through Partnership in Rwanda

Rwanda’s HIV response is a global reference point, having reached remarkable milestones with adult targets now standing at 96-98-98. However, national averages can sometimes hide the people the system still misses.

In this compelling article, we highlight the impactful power of collaboration and partnership between the @RwandaNGOForum and @UNAIDSRwanda in putting key and priority populations, including FSW, MSM, transgender people, PWID/PWUD, people with disabilities, and AGYW, at the center of the HIV and SRHR response through Community-Led Monitoring (CLM), data-driven advocacy, and policy transformation.

Read the full article here: https://t.co/Lx4IsHu3ot

How can we better leverage community-led monitoring (CLM) and SRHR initiatives to reach the last mile and ensure no one is left behind in our health responses? Share your thoughts in the comments below and keep the conversation going.

#LetCommunityLead #EndAIDS2030 #KeyPopulations #HealthyAdolescentRw #HealthEquity

@RwandaHealth @RBCRwanda @nsanzimanasabin @JNdayizigiye @UNAIDS @WHORwanda @BrianChirombo @CMuvunyi @UNAIDS_ESA @RichardAmenyah @AndrewGasoziNtw @Knooliet @J_Umuhire @HDIRwanda @ImroRwanda @Sfrwanda1 @FXBRwanda @TuyishimeAlbert @Rwanda_CCM @mwanaimable @DMbituyumuremyi @aflodiskagaba

[Africa HealthTech Summit | AHTS @AfricaHTSummit]

Digital health investment is scaling fast in #Africa, but research has a distinct role: testing interventions at smaller scale first, generating evidence on what works, for whom, and at what cost, including approaches equity needs but commercial incentives alone won't fund.

Rwanda's National Health Intelligence Center (#NHIC) opens a new phase: infrastructure that can power not just health-system management, but research at scale.

Keynotes: Dr Eric Remera (@eRemera), Director, #NHIC, (@RwandaHealth) & Nadine Karema, MBA, Executive Director, @PIH_Rwanda

Moderator: Dr Erick Baganizi, @PIH_Rwanda

Panel: Dr Christian Mazimpaka (NHIC) · Dr Mara Anna Franke (@PIH_Rwanda) · Sildio Mbonyumuhire (@sildio88), Tech Cluster Lead, LEAP Center, @ughe_org

Thu, 1 Oct | 9-10AM | MH2a

Register: https://t.co/CXnIEtiXCm

#AHTS2026 #AHTS5 #WellnessForAll

[Rwanda NGOs Forum on HIV/AIDS and H.P @RwandaNGOForum]

🚨Weekly Spotlight🚨

Resilience in Action: Inside Rwanda’s Community-Led Outbreak Defense

This week, @RwandaNGOForum conducted field monitoring and mentorship visits to mentor and support its network of Frontline Functionaries (#FLFs) who are driving community sensitization on Cholera, Ebola, Measles, Mpox, Marburg, Malaria, and Viral Hemorrhagic Fevers (VHFs).

This was implemented as part of the ongoing intervention “Building disease-outbreak-resilient communities through RCCE and digital interventions,” supported by @unicefrw and spanning 8 districts, including @GisagaraDistr, @HuyeDistrict, @KarongiDistr, @NyagatareDistr, @Nyamasheke, @RubavuDistrict, @RusiziDistrict, and @RutsiroDistrict.

The power of the RCCE (Risk Communication and Community Engagement) model lies in its people. During the visits, we witnessed outstanding ownership from Community Health Workers (CHWs), Local Administrative Leaders, Inshuti z’Umuryango (IZU), Faith Leaders, and representatives from Youth, Women, people with disabilities and Affected Communities.

By leveraging existing trusted social structures, from Umuganda and Inama to Umugoroba w’umuryango, markets, hotspots, and places of worship, these FLFs are not just disseminating information; they are cultivating a culture of preparedness, reaching people where they already gather, building trust one conversation at a time.

Communities are moving beyond passive reception to active resilience. We are seeing tangible progress in:

🔹 Early Warning Systems: Rapid identification of threats.
🔹 Social Listening: Understanding community sentiment in real time.
🔹 Social and Behaviour Change (SBC): Adopting protective behaviours.
🔹 Feedback Loops: Ensuring community voices drive timely, effective response.
@RwandaHealth @RBCRwanda @WHORwanda @GlobalFund @TheENDFund @RwandaLocalGov @RwandaYouthArts @Rwanda_Child @PSF_Rwanda @RCARwanda @Rwanda_Edu @RwandaAgri @RwandaSouth @RwandaEast @RwandaWest @eu_echo @EUinRW @gavi @WorldBankGroup @WorldBankAfrica @UKinRwanda @gatesfoundation @MastercardFdn @AfricaCDC @Pandemic_Fund @wellcometrust @Irish_Aid @nsanzimanasabin @JNdayizigiye @CMuvunyi @TuyishimeAlbert @Dominiquehab @BGakire
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[Global Kwik Koders @GlblKwkKoders]

Meet another mind behind the code 💻✨

Introducing SEBAKARA Maïc, our Head of R&D, driving innovation and turning ideas into reliable, scalable solutions.

#GlobalKwikKoders #TeamSpotlight #BehindTheCode

[Rwanda NGOs Forum on HIV/AIDS and H.P @RwandaNGOForum]

📌 WORLD SEXUAL HEALTH DAY 2026

Rwanda has made important progress in advancing sexual and reproductive health, from expanding family-planning services, lowering adolescent age of consent and youth-friendly care to strengthening sexuality education, improving maternal health outcomes and placing SRHR higher on the national agenda. Our policies and strategies demonstrate a clear commitment to improving access to quality SRHR services.

But progress must not become complacency.

Too many adolescents and young people still face stigma, misinformation, judgment and financial or geographic barriers when seeking SRHR information and services. Teenage pregnancy remains a concern, while gaps in access to family planning and other essential SRHR services continue to affect those who are most underserved.

This #WorldSexualHealthDay , we recognize how far Rwanda has come, but we also call for the work that remains.

We call on health institutions, policymakers and development partners to move beyond policies and programmes on paper and ensure that services are accessible, affordable, confidential, inclusive, youth-friendly and responsive to people’s real needs. We need comprehensive sexuality education, reliable SRHR commodities, stronger protection from sexual violence and coercion, as well as services that uphold bodily autonomy, informed choice and dignity.

Every body deserves sexual health. Every body deserves dignity. Every body deserves rights.

#WorldSexualHealthDayRw #SRHR4EveryBodyRw

[Rwanda NGOs Forum on HIV/AIDS and H.P @RwandaNGOForum]

Turning Sports and Entertainment into Action Against NTDs ⚽

With support from @TheENDFund and in close collaboration with @BugeseraDistr and @RuhangoDistrict , @RwandaNGOForum is empowering @MalariaNTDcorps to conduct community mobilization across both districts to prevent Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs), specifically Soil-Transmitted Helminths (STH) and Schistosomiasis, while promoting protective behaviours and good Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) practices.

Through sports and entertainment activities, including football matches that bring communities together, key prevention messages are reaching people in more engaging and memorable ways:

✅Washing hands with soap,
✅Wearing shoes,
✅Avoiding contact with marshland water,
✅ Ending open defecation,
✅Using latrines properly,
✅Seeking treatment early when symptoms occur.

Rolling out across all sectors of Bugesera and Ruhango districts, each community reached represents another step towards interrupting transmission. These campaigns advance Rwanda’s commitment to bring prevalence below 2% in focus areas by 2027, a goal anchored in the National NTD Strategic Plan 2026-2030, and our shared promise under the Kigali Declaration on NTDs and the @WHO NTD Roadmap.

Together, we can turn awareness into action and communities into champions for a healthier, NTD free Rwanda.

#BeatNTDs #EndNTDs

[Rwanda NGOs Forum on HIV/AIDS and H.P @RwandaNGOForum]

Reaching Those Most at Risk, Right Where They Work

This week, @RwandaNGOForum conducted targeted Interpersonal Communication (IPC) sessions and supervision visits on Schistosomiasis and Soil-transmitted Helminths with high-risk groups, including marshland farmers and fishermen in @BugeseraDistr and @RuhangoDistrict because of their daily contact with freshwater, which is the main route of schistosomiasis transmission, these high-risk groups daily exposure to both SCH and STH.

Alongside @RBCRwanda, @BugeseraDistr & @RuhangoDistrict teams, these sessions emphasised SCH/STH transmission, proper use of protective equipment, WASH practices (latrine use, ending open defecation near water bodies, handwashing with soap) as well as seeking early treatment.
All this is in support of the Interruption of Transmission (IoT) target of below 2% prevalence in focus areas by 2027 and aligned with the National NTD Strategic Plan 2026–2030, the @WHO NTD Roadmap and the Kigali Declaration on NTDs.

#BeatNTDs #EndNTDs

[Rwanda Biomedical Centre @RBCRwanda]

Today, Rwanda Biomedical Centre, together with partners, convened experts from laboratories, infectious diseases, and academia to discuss findings from the assessment of Rwanda’s capacity for genomic surveillance.

Opening the workshop, DG @CMuvunyi highlighted #Rwanda’s experience responding to outbreaks, supported by strong laboratories, disease surveillance, and a committed #healthworkforce. He stressed that genomic surveillance is more than technology; it helps us detect health threats early and protect our health workers, scientists, and communities.

Rwanda is investing in stronger #genomicsurveillance to detect outbreaks early, understand how diseases change, guide faster action, and use scientific evidence to make better public health decisions. This is a key investment in Rwanda’s #healthsecurity and preparedness.

[Resolve to Save Lives @ResolveTSL]

Disease situation reports are one of Nigeria’s most important tools for detecting and responding to outbreaks. Creating reports, however, is often time-consuming and can delay the review and dissemination of up-to-date epidemiological data.

To address this issue, we held a workshop with the @NCDCgov to train 20 staff to use a programming language called "R" to automate the creation of disease situation reports.

Epidemiologists, surveillance officers, and data analysts learned to clean and process surveillance data, create summaries and visualizations, and troubleshoot common coding issues.

These skills will help support staff in the creation of timely, reliable surveillance information for outbreak preparedness and response to inform data-driven decision-making, strengthen health security, and support Nigeria to consistently meet the 7-1-7 target.