Rwinkwavu, Rwanda

The line outside the hospital in Rwinkwavu.

Inshuti Mu Buzima

Inshuti Mu Buzima, Partner in Health's first branch in Africa, was established in 2005 by the Rwandan government in collaboration with PIH. Its other donors and partner organizations include the Rwandan Ministry of Health, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria and the Clinton HIV/AIDS initiative.

Before the arrival of PIH, most of Rwanda's HIV treatment programs were located in Kigali, the capital city. Because of this, many other patients in rural districts were left untreated. PIH chose Rwinkwavu as their first location in rural Rwanda, repaired the local hospital, and staffed it with locally hired nurses.

Rwinkwavu Hospital now has more than 80 beds and a special health center for children suffering from malnutrition. Eight months after its launch, Inshuti Mu Buzima had already tested or treated over 30,000 people for HIV.

In addition to the medical treatment provided by Inshuti Mu Buzima, it offers support to the patients and their families by distributing food, building houses, or employing them to do work for the hospital. Now, only two years after the institution of the program, Inshuti Mu Buzima has six sites for HIV treatment and testing across the country, and is in the process of building another hospital in Kirehe.