Best practices and lessons learned from implementing a massive Ebola vaccination program: Summarizing UMURINZI team experience.

Background and Aims: The unified Rwandan initiative for national ZEBOVAC immunization (UMURINZI) program's community engagement component was enacted to mobilize and vaccinate high-risk community members. This article describes best practices and lessons learned from the implementation of UMURINZI, a large-scale Ebola vaccination program. Methods: The population deemed to be at risk for EVD consisted of people who frequently cross Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) borders including those coming from Kigali City, potential first responders who have not previously been vaccinated against EVD, as well as people who reside in high-risk border-proximate areas of the Rubavu and Rusizi districts in the Western Province of Rwanda. These districts were selected because of their proximity to high-traffic borders linking Rwanda to DRC's cities near an active Ebola outbreak. Volunteers of this program were adults, adolescents, and children aged 2 years or above who resided in the selected communities. Recruitment at the sites was conducted in close collaboration with each health area's Community Health Workers (CHWs). Volunteers were informed that the program involved being fully vaccinated (two doses of Ebola vaccines) within 2 months apart in the allocated vaccination sites. Results: Lessons learned were categorized into four pillars: infrastructure, leadership, myths, and partnership with respect. The best practices that were used during the implementation of the UMURINZI program were the results of a collaboration among CHWs, the involvement of national and local leaders, the use of a comprehensive engagement plan, and training. The study also had limitations. Conclusion: We described best practices and lessons learned during the implementation of the UMURINZI program in Rwanda. These practices and lessons learned represent promising options that could contribute to better community members' participation in mass vaccination programs. Hence, we demonstrated that rigorously designed community awareness and sensitization programs are effective for the implementation of similar programs in resource-limited settings.

Understanding Antiretroviral Treatment Adherence Among HIV-Positive Women at Four Postpartum Time Intervals: Qualitative Results from the Kabeho Study in Rwanda.

As lifelong antiretroviral therapy (ART) for pregnant women is implemented, it is important to understand the attitudes and norms affecting women's postpartum ART adherence. This is a qualitative cross-sectional study of HIV-positive postpartum women (n = 112) enrolled in a 2-year observational prospective cohort in Rwanda. Informed by the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA), we conducted in-depth interviews with women whose children were 0-6, 7-12, 13-18, or 21-24 months of age to describe factors contributing to adherence and changes over time. Positive ART attitudes reported by women included mothers' health promotion, prevention of infant HIV infection, higher CD4 count, and improved physical appearance. Negative attitudes were few, but included side effects and the lifelong nature of treatment. Learning from people living with HIV (PLHIV) was identified as a norm facilitating adherence; ART adherence was inhibited by fear of disclosure or stigmatization in communities and clinics. Poor adherence behaviors were common immediately after HIV diagnosis, not necessarily during prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT). Women with older children, most of whom stopped breastfeeding by 13-18 months, reported more barriers and missed doses than women with younger children. The TRA was useful in identifying the collective influence of attitudes, norms, and intentions on behavior. Findings suggest that HIV-positive women are vulnerable to poor adherence following HIV diagnosis and around the time of breastfeeding cessation. Lifelong treatment adherence can be supported through PLHIV exemplifying long-term ART use, fewer and less stigmatizing clinic visits, and counseling messages highlighting the benefits of drugs on appearance and illness prevention and incorporating biological feedback.

Women's responses to intimate partner violence in Rwanda: Rethinking agency in constrained social contexts.

This paper explores instances of agency in women's responses to intimate partner violence (IPV) in Rwanda. The literature on women's responses to IPV conceptualises agency primarily as an individual's capacity to take action by reporting violence or leaving a relationship, obscuring other ways women may respond to violence in contexts where reporting or leaving are unlikely. We aim to replace this narrow conceptualisation of agency with a social constructivist focus on the meanings women attribute to possible IPV responses. We draw on data from a study of IPV in Rwanda, which includes semi-structured interviews with women experiencing violence and four focus group discussions with women community members (n = 39). Our findings highlight sociocultural, economic, political-legal and historical constraints that shape women's actions in this context. In relation to these constraints, women describe four possible responses to IPV: reporting the violence; seeking emotional support; 'fighting back' against violence; or remaining silent. While reporting and leaving violent relationships are identified, women also discuss the social constraints that make these actions extremely difficult. In designing effective strategies, we conclude that public health strategies need to consider women's understandings of their own actions, particularly in social contexts where certain actions may be constrained.

The epidemiology of human papillomavirus infection in HIV-positive and HIV-negative high-risk women in Kigali, Rwanda.

BACKGROUND: The prevalence, incidence and persistence of human papillomavirus (HPV) types in sub-Saharan Africa are not well established. The objectives of the current study are to describe (predictors of) the epidemiology of HPV among high-risk women in Kigali, Rwanda. METHODS: HIV-negative, high-risk women were seen quarterly for one year, and once in Year 2. HIV serostatus, clinical, and behavioral information were assessed at each visit, HPV types at Month 6 and Year 2, and other sexually transmitted infections (STI) at selected visits. HPV prevalence was also assessed in HIV-positive, high-risk women. RESULTS: Prevalence of any HPV was 47.0% in HIV-negative women (median age 25 years) compared to 72.2% in HIV-positive women (median age 27 years; OR 2.9, 95% CI 1.9-4.6). Among HIV-negative women, cumulative incidence of high-risk (HR)-HPV was 28.0% and persistence 32.0% after a mean period of 16.6 and 16.9 months, respectively. Prior Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae infection, concurrent low-risk (LR)-HPV infection and incident HSV-2 were associated with HR-HPV prevalence among HIV-negative women; prior C. trachomatis infection and co-infection with LR-HPV and HPV16-related HPV types with HR-HPV acquisition. HPV16-related types were the most prevalent and persistent. CONCLUSIONS: High HPV prevalence, incidence and persistence were found among high-risk women in Kigali. HPV52 had the highest incidence; and, together with HPV33 and HPV58, were strongly associated with acquisition of other HR-HPV types in HIV-negative women.