For Mukamana (not her real name), a 62-year-old woman living with both HIV and diabetes, frequent hospital visits once consumed her time, energy and limited income.
Before November 2025, she had to make separate trips to collect antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) and diabetes medication. Today, she receives both services during a single appointment at her health centre in Nyarugenge District under an integrated care model.
"I now come once, meet one nurse and get everything. It saves my time and transport money," she said.
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Mukamana says the new approach has improved her adherence to treatment.
"Before, I could skip visits when I had no transport money. Sometimes I would delay treatment. Now it is easier to follow everything properly," she said, urging authorities to expand the programme nationwide.
Health officials say integrating HIV and non-communicable disease (NCD) services is improving efficiency and reducing the burden of repeated hospital visits for patients managing multiple chronic conditions.
The initiative, implemented by the Rwanda Non-Communicable Diseases Alliance (Rwanda NCDA) in collaboration with the Rwanda Biomedical Centre (RBC), allows patients with HIV and conditions such as diabetes and hypertension to receive care during a single appointment.
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Naasson Nduwamungu, Coordinator of HIV and NCD Service Integration at Rwanda NCDA, said the programme was introduced after health facilities identified inefficiencies in appointment scheduling.
"People living with HIV and NCDs were given different appointment dates, leading to unnecessary repeat visits, yet these services could be delivered in one appointment," he said.
He noted that the main challenge was not willingness among health workers, but differences in training.
"Although they are all nurses, those handling HIV care and those managing NCDs were trained separately," he said.
To address this, joint training programmes were introduced.
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"We trained HIV healthcare workers on NCD care, and NCD healthcare workers on HIV care," he said.
As a result, nurses can now provide integrated services, although financing remains a challenge.
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"An HIV nurse can now also manage selected NCD services. The remaining challenge is financing certain services so that RSSB can fully cover them," Nduwamungu said.
The programme currently operates in 10 health centres and two hospitals in Nyarugenge District, offering screening and treatment for diabetes and hypertension, as well as screening and counselling for breast and cervical cancers.
RBC says the model is being scaled up nationwide. Jean Claude Kwizera, Senior Officer for HIV and AIDS Adult Care and Treatment at RBC, said at least 120 health facilities have been trained since September.
A key feature of the programme is co-scheduling, which aligns appointments for different services.
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"For example, some patients may come monthly, while others come every three or six months. With co-scheduling, we align appointments so they can be served together," he said.
The rollout comes as NCD cases continue to rise. Diabetes cases increased from 11,891 in 2019 to 21,164 in 2025, while hypertension cases rose from 58,194 to 134,823 during the same period. Cancer cases also grew from 2,745 in 2017 to 6,896 in 2025.
According to Dr Gad Nshimiyimana, Acting Director of the Lung, Renal, Diabetes and Other Metabolic Diseases Unit at RBC, expanded screening and awareness campaigns are helping identify more patients earlier.
"Increased awareness and screening, supported by community health workers, are identifying more people earlier," he said.
