Rwandan Secretary General in the Ministry of Education and Scientific Research Eugene Munyakayanza announced on Thursday a strategic framework within which "a comprehensive and a holistic view of actions" would be taken "to mitigate the impact [of HIV/AIDS] on the education sector," the Rwandan News Agency reported Thursday. According to Munyakayanza, an HIV/AIDS unit has already been established with the mandate of coordinating and monitoring all HIV/AIDS activities of the ministry, such as the establishment of anti-AIDS clubs in secondary schools and institutions of higher learning and training of teachers on HIV/AIDS prevention. The unit has also integrated HIV/AIDS subject material into school education programmes.
Citing a survey carried out in 1998 by the National AIDS Control Programme, Munyakayanza said that 11.1 percent of children aged 12 and above were HIV positive. The youngest age group of 12-14 years had a rate of 4.1 percent and that of 15-19 years had a rate of 8.5 percent, thus indicating a high proportion of new infections among youth. "This puts Rwanda among countries with the highest rates of detectable HIV prevalence in the world," RNA quoted Munyakayanza as saying.
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