And Food Support Program

WE-ACTx’s income generation and food provision activities seek to address two major barriers in fostering health and wellness for Rwandan women, children and families struggling with HIV: poverty and lack of sufficient nutrition. In resource-poor settings, good nutrition is often lacking, which causes immune suppression and thus increases vulnerability to disease and may negatively influence a patient’s capacity to adhere to HIV treatment regimes. Of interest however, all of our patients report extremely high adherence to therapy, even when it is a struggle because of low food availability. Extreme poverty and lack of food may also negatively influence the mental health of those struggling to deal with disease and illness. WE-ACTx seeks to address these issues through facilitating links with small-scale income generating activities and helping to provide access to grants and funds when possible, and through the provision of supplemental nutrition through our support groups, education and training programs, and patient’s clinical and research visits. We hope to expand our services in this area of the coming year.