Our primary mission is to increase women’s and children’s access to primary health care and treatment in resource-limited settings at the grassroots level. We are committed to a locally driven, collaborative model of primary health care and treatment provision—one in which high quality clinical care, psycho-social support, poverty-mitigation, capacity-building and self-advocacy are all key elements in achieving the highest possible attainment of physical and mental health for the HIV-infected/affected women and their families with whom WE-ACTx works.
In the 100-day genocide of 1994, an estimated 250,000 Rwandan women experienced multiple episodes of brutal rape, torture and violence. Many of women contracted HIV, likely as a result of the this brutality. In late 2003, the women learned that the perpetrators of their rapes who were jailed while waiting trial at the International Tribunal were receiving highly active antiretroviral therapy (ART), while their victims died of AIDS. Women’s Equity in Access to Care and Treatment for HIV (WE-ACTx) was created in early 2004 in response to a request from these women for help in accessing ART. Working collaboratively with five local genocide survivors associations, the Rwandan Ministry of Health and the Rwandan National AIDS Program, WE-ACTx founding members mobilized resources and we acted to develop a treatment program for the survivors. The first patients received comprehensive primary care by June of 2004. Since then, our programs have expanded in both size and scope, but our deep commitment to helping Rwandan survivors of genocidal rape and sexual violence, and empowering HIV-infected and affected women and children to take charge of their lives and become leaders in the fight against AIDS, guides our vision and continuing efforts.
Women’s Equity in Access to Care and Treatment (WE-ACTx) is a US-based 501C3 international community-driven women’s treatment and health access initiative operating primarily in the East African nation of Rwanda. The initiative was launched in 2004 by US-based AIDS physicians, activists and researchers with extensive experience in providing and advocating for care and treatment for HIV positive women in the US and internationally. Our administrative headquarters is located in San Francisco, CA. We also have a local program office in Kigali, Rwanda, which now numbers over 60 local clinical, and other program and support staff. The US office is staffed by one part-time coordinating director and several dedicated volunteers with expertise in clinical, care and systems, mental health, clinical research, legal and advocacy, and administration and finance. These experts provide thousands of hours annually of program and management oversight and technical assistance/capacity building services for the Rwandan WE-ACTx team, as well as collaborating directly with public health officials and Rwandan health scientists on direct service and clinical research programs