Jeanne Gapiya-Niyonzima

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Jeanne Gapiya-Niyonzima
Jeanne Gapiya Niyonzima.jpg
Born12 July 1963
NationalityBurundian
OccupationHuman Rights Activist

Jeanne Gapiya-Niyonzima (born 12 July 1963, in Bujumbura) is a human rights activist from Burundi. She is the chair and founder of the (ANSS) and was the first person from the country to publicly admit they had HIV.[1]

Biography[]

Personal struggle[]

Gapiya-Niyonzima trained as an accountant initially, but found her first employment at a pharmacy in Burundi's capital city.[2]

In 1987, she married her husband and in 1988 when she was pregnant with her second child, her first child was diagnosed as HIV positive.[3] At her doctor's insistence her pregnancy was terminated and she was also diagnosed as HIV positive.[3] Her first child died aged eighteen months; her husband died of AIDS soon after in 1989.[3] In 1993 after the death of her sister and brother too, she tested positive for HIV.[4]

In 1994, Gapiya-Niyonzima became the first person from Burundi to publicly declare that they were HIV positive.[5] This happened during a religious service, in which a sermon was delivered which stigmatised people with the disease.[5]

Activism[]

In 1993, Gapiya-Niyonzima founded the National Association of Support for Seropositive and AIDS Patients (ANSS).[6] It was the first civil organisation in the country to provide support and treatment, including anti-retroviral therapy, for people with HIV and AIDS within the country.[6] The ANSS promotes the prevention of the transmission of HIV/AIDS and provides support for those with the infection, however it was transmitted, and their families.[7]

In 1996, whilst Burundi was under a trade embargo, Gapiya-Niyonzima fought for the right of patients to continue to access medicines, which were being sold at exorbitant prices.[8] In 1999 she established the Turinho centre within the ANSS which provides overall support and care for those infected and affected.[9]

In April 2011 Gapiya-Niyonzima addressed the United Nations Committee for HIV/AIDS in New York City.[9] Since 2013, with the support of UNITAID, the ANSS has run a laboratory which performs its own viral loads tests.[10] Between August 2014 and November 2016, the laboratory performed 14,800 HIV viral load tests for patients on anti-retrovirals.[10] From 2013-16, the ANSS performed 85% of the viral load tests carried out in Burundi.[10]

In 2016, Gapiya-Niyonzima was re-elected as president of the ANSS by its General Assembly.[11] The ANSS had at that time 6,410 members, 5,114 of whom take antiretroviral medicines.[11] She is also a board member for other NGOs active in anti-discrimination orgainsiations, including Coalition Plus[12] and Sidaction.[13]

Awards[]

  • 2012 : Prize of Human Rights of the French Republic.[14]
  • 2012: Elected Burundian Woman of Courage of the Year 2012 by the Government of the United States of America.[15]
  • 2006: Sidaction International Prize.[16]
  • 2003: World Food Program Prize for having “mobilized and influenced young people in secondary schools, women's leagues, the media and the authorities to fight against HIV / AIDS”.[17]

Family[]

Gapiya-Niyonzima re-married in 1999 and she has two children.[18]

References[]

  1. ^ Welle (www.dw.com), Deutsche, "Avant d'être infectés, nous sommes des hommes, nous sommes des femmes." | DW | 02.12.2019 (in French), retrieved 2020-02-05
  2. ^ Jacques, Francois (2016-03-10). "« J'ai refusé que l'on condamne mon bébé qui venait de mourir »". Coalition PLUS (in French). Retrieved 2020-02-04.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b c "Une femme de tous les combats contre le sida". The New Humanitarian (in French). 2000-12-28. Retrieved 2020-02-04.
  4. ^ "BURUNDI, Les personnalités célèbres : Burundi, guide touristique Petit Futé". www.petitfute.com. Retrieved 2020-02-04.
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b "Person of the Week: Jeanne Gapiya". Devex. 2011-05-05. Retrieved 2020-02-04.
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b "ANSS : 20 ans de riposte à l'épidémie de VIH au Burundi". www.unaids.org (in French). Retrieved 2020-02-04.
  7. ^ "Accueil". www.anssburundi.bi. Retrieved 2020-02-04.
  8. ^ "Traitement du VIH/sida: l'expérience d'une association burundaise". Medicus Mundi Schweiz (in German). Retrieved 2020-02-04.
  9. ^ Jump up to: a b Mazzotta, Meredith (2011-05-02). "HIV/AIDS in Burundi: An advocate blazes the trail for access to care and treatment". Science Speaks: Global ID News. Retrieved 2020-02-05.
  10. ^ Jump up to: a b c Jacques, Francois (2018-05-15). "BURUNDI - Démédicaliser pour faciliter le suivi et l'accès au traitement". Coalition PLUS (in French). Retrieved 2020-02-05.
  11. ^ Jump up to: a b "Election du nouveau comité exécutif de l'ANSS : Jeanne Gapiya reconduite". IWACU (in French). 2016-05-23. Retrieved 2020-02-05.
  12. ^ Lindlau, Diego (2016-03-03). "Journée internationale des droits des femmes - SIDA: première cause de mortalité chez les femmes de 15 à 44 ans". Coalition PLUS (in French). Retrieved 2020-02-05.
  13. ^ "Conseil d'administration" (PDF).
  14. ^ "Le projet OPP-ERA, un projet innovant pour améliorer les soins dédiés aux personnes vivant avec le VIH Sida" (PDF).
  15. ^ "Jeanne Gapiya Niyonzima élue "Femme Burundaise de Courage de l'année 2012"". IWACU (in French). 2013-05-05. Retrieved 2020-02-05.
  16. ^ "Jeanne Gapiya-Niyonzima", Wikipédia (in French), 2020-02-01, retrieved 2020-02-05
  17. ^ "OCHA Burundi: Rapport de Situation de la semaine du 10 - 16 Mar 2003 - Burundi". ReliefWeb. Retrieved 2020-02-05.
  18. ^ "Les médecins m'ont dit :" Votre bébé est malade du Sida, il va mourir, d'ailleurs vous aussi"". BBC News Afrique (in French). 2018-05-23. Retrieved 2020-02-05.

External links[]

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