As Gicumbi District marks world Aids day in Gihembe refugee camp, officials has announced that 319 refugees have been infected with HIV.
Only 89 refugees have started getting ant-retroviral drugs, according to statistics from 2004 till date.
Maclean Natugasha an official of American Refugee Committee which helps the refugee to fight the scourge declined to give details of the Aids situation by press time.
In recent statistics released, 6000 young people were getting infected each day and according to the behavioral studies of Rwandan youth, the proportion of sexually active young men and women aged 15-24 years increased from 34 to 39 percent among young men while 20 to 26 percent among young women between 2006 and 2009.
HIV prevalence among youth aged 15-24 years in Rwanda is estimated at 1.0 percent, public officials announced as campaigns for World AIDS Day (WAD) in a recent press briefing.
However some refugees who analyzed situation say, the number of HIV infected refugees may be more than the official statistics due to unprotected life styles in the camp.
“That number must be very small, of course those are people who managed to jump the culture of stigma, based on behaviors I see here and lots of redundancies in the camp with no jobs to keep us occupied many young men and women could possibly end up into sexual interactions,” Said one refugee who declined to publish his name.
In her speech, Theresa Mujawamariya the vice mayor in charge of social affairs called upon more young men to be involved in the fight against the scourge.
Mujawamariye observed that above 18 years of youth did not turn up of the marking of the world Aids day.
“The most targeted group is the productive age group yet I have seen this group neglecting this campaign,” Mujawamariya said.
She also called upon girls to always make firm stand in making their sexual interaction decisions and fight stigma.
She also advised that more ant-aids clubs are needed in the refugee camp if the fight of the scourge has to be successful.
The event to mark the world aids day at the District level which took place in the refugee camp was jointly organized by American Rescue Committee (ARC), Ministry of Disaster Management and Refugee Affairs (MIDIMAR), United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and Gicumbi District.
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