IntraHealth International Receives Multi-Year Award From US Government For HIV/AIDS Work In Rwanda
20 June, 2007
IntraHealth International, a leader in meeting the public health needs of developing countries, has been awarded a $27 million grant to improve health services in Rwanda. The HIV/AIDS Clinical Services Program is a new five-year grant from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) that will reinforce Rwanda’s health care system and expand access to HIV/AIDS clinical services.
The award was announced just before the 2007 HIV/AIDS Implementers Meeting began in Rwanda this week. The meeting, with nearly 1500 global attendees, has a special focus on scale-up of prevention, treatment and care programs, building capacity, quality and cooperation among partners.
"This new grant is an exciting opportunity for IntraHealth, which has been working in Rwanda for nearly 20 years, to implement a comprehensive HIV/AIDS program," said Pape Gaye, President and CEO of IntraHealth International. "With the addition of this project, we are now involved in most of the key health care interventions in Rwanda, which will further our goal of contributing to the health and well-being of the Rwandan people."
Rwanda faces a critical shortage of physicians and nurses and an overstretched health care system further burdened by the HIV/AIDS epidemic. IntraHealth will collaborate with Rwanda's Ministry of Health to increase the availability and accessibility of needed HIV/AIDS treatment, care and prevention services, including prevention of mother-to-child-transmission of HIV.
"We are thrilled to have been awarded this important project, which will be implemented by a talented and dedicated Rwandan team, including some national HIV/AIDS leaders," said Karen Blyth, who directs the new project in Rwanda. "IntraHealth has a great opportunity to make an important contribution in combating the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Rwanda."
IntraHealth's other activities in Rwanda, also funded through the US government, support the Rwandan government's efforts to improve primary health care services, expand educational opportunities for Rwandan nurses, and build management capacity of Rwandan health managers.
IntraHealth International has served the public health needs of developing countries for more than a quarter of a century. IntraHealth's primary mission is to mobilize local talent to create sustainable and accessible health care. With an original focus on women's and children’s health, IntraHealth's work has broadened to include innovative solutions in accessing basic health care and strengthening human resources for health and interventions for HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases. IntraHealth has public health projects in more than 25 countries on four continents and is headquartered in Chapel Hill, NC. IntraHealth is a not-for-profit corporation.
IntraHealth partners with a wide range of nongovernmental organizations, donors and government institutions in countries where it has projects. Funding for the HIV/AIDS Clinical Services Program in Rwanda comes through USAID from the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). PEPFAR is the US global effort to prevent seven million new HIV infections, treat at least two million HIV-infected people, and care for ten million people infected and affected by HIV/AIDS, including orphans and vulnerable children. IntraHealth's partners on the HIV/AIDS Clinical Services Program in Rwanda are the University of North Carolina's Center for Infectious Diseases and Mildmay International, a U. K. faith-based organization.