Increasing access to sanitation and hygiene through the community hygiene clubs approach in Rwanda

The national averages for access to safe water supply, improved sanitation and hygiene practice in Rwanda are 74.2%, 74.5% and 34% respectively. The government of Rwanda has established a roadmap, known as the “Community Based Environmental Health Promotion Program”, CBEHPP, which is a model followed by the communities to find solutions to their own problems in the area of safe water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH). The results obtained by World Vision after one year of implementing CBEHPP, reveal full potential of communities to solve their problems with limited assistance. Because of this important progress, World Vision Rwanda (WVR) is investing a lot of efforts in strengthening the Community Hygiene Clubs (CHCs) as well as increasing their skills to respond efficiently to sanitation problems in their villages

Prioritising the most needed paediatric antiretroviral formulations: the PADO4 list

Despite considerable progress in paediatric HIV treatment and timely revision of global policies recommending the use of more effective and tolerable antiretroviral regimens, optimal antiretroviral formulations for infants, children, and adolescents remain limited. The Paediatric Antiretroviral Drug Optimization group reviews medium-term and long-term priorities for antiretroviral drug development to guide industry and other stakeholders on formulations most needed for low-income and middle-income countries. The group convened in December, 2018, to assess progress since the previous meeting and update the list of priority formulations. Issues relating to drug optimisation for neonatal prophylaxis and paediatric treatment, and those relating to the investigation of novel antiretrovirals in adolescents and pregnant and lactating women were also discussed. Continued focus on identifying, prioritising, and providing access to optimal antiretroviral formulations suitable for infants, children, and adolescents is key to ensuring that global HIV treatment targets can be met

Rwanda 20 years on: investing in life

Two decades ago, the genocide against the Tutsis in Rwanda led to the deaths of 1 million people, and the displacement of millions more. Injury and trauma were followed by the effects of a devastated health system and economy. In the years that followed, a new course set by a new government set into motion equity-oriented national policies focusing on social cohesion and people-centred development. Premature mortality rates have fallen precipitously in recent years, and life expectancy has doubled since the mid-1990s. Here we reflect on the lessons learned in rebuilding Rwanda's health sector during the past two decades, as the country now prepares itself to take on new challenges in health-care delivery