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May 15, 2008
Raising HIV Awareness Among Blind People in Rwanda
The visually impaired in Rwanda are not receiving adequate information about HIV prevention, reports The New Times/AllAfrica.com (allafrica.com, 5/15).
According to the article, Handicap International (HI), an organization that helps the disabled, had a brainstorming workshop on Monday to address the disparity of AIDS knowledge and the rising infection rates among the blind community. "Programs to fight AIDS have not been considering the fact that these people cannot read what is written in either books or [on] billboards," said Jacques Sindayigaya, an HIV coordinator.
HI has tried to educate the community through peer-led programs in which blind educators use radio receivers and cassettes.