Psychological support

The mediation service acts as a link between the patient and the healthcare providers, the mediators have a role to ensure the continuum of care and intervene in actions of prevention, care and support for people living with HIV/AIDS for adherence and adherence to treatment and PMTCT.

1. Prevention activities

Raising awareness is a means of contributing to information because once the person knows their HIV status and accepts illness, attitude or behavior change in relationships with others.

  • PMTCT Raising awareness about the PMTCT protocol aims to minimize the transmission of HIV from mother to child. Information and education sessions concerning PMTCT during discussion group sessions are carried out in the field and currently, 17 pregnant women and 53 children on PMTCT are monitored at SYM.
  • Condom use Condom use has been discussed many times between some church leaders and health providers. Thus, abstinence is a safe means of birth control in couples, but in the context of HIV/AIDS, condom use is a means of limiting new HIV infections, infections sexually transmitted, unwanted pregnancies in infected couples.
Image awareness in the field
Psychosocial care for PLHIV

2. Psychosocial care activities for PLHIV

The gateway to comprehensive care is the screening result. Pre and post test counseling activities are carried out at the level of the voluntary screening center (VCT). If a person is tested HIV-positive, they are taken care of either at SYM or elsewhere according to their own choice to benefit from psychosocial support, treatment and care. SYM operates in 16 sites in the province of Bujumbura Rural (Buhonga, Buterere, Gatumba, Gitaza, Kiriri Kinyinya, Karinzi, Kabezi, Maramvya, Mutumba, Magara, Mayuyu, Matara, Rukaramu, Ruziba and Rubirizi). Visits to the mobile clinic are carried out every month, except for the KARINZI and MAYUYU sites where visits are made once every 2 months. On this occasion, discussion group sessions, therapeutic education, individual listening, individual delivery of viral load or CD4 results and home visits are carried out.

A number of 992 PLHIV, including 695 women and 297 men, are treated at SYM, and are on ARVs and receive psychosocial care services such as :

  • Therapeutic education;
  • Nutrition education;
  • Support group services with various themes;
  • Home visits for sick patients or tracking lost sight and abandonment;
  • Hospital visits for inpatients;
  • Psychosocial and medical support for young people and adolescents in both school and non-school settings followed at SYM.
  • Support for HIV-positive and sero-discordant couples.

All these activities contribute to the objective of adherence to treatment adherence to positive life with HIV / AIDS in order to avoid cases of incidence of HIV / AIDS