Francine Birungi

University of Rwanda · Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics

Background Optimal viral load suppression results from good adherence to treatment. The viral load suppression advantages include the reduction of virus transmission. In Rwanda, however, viral load suppression among adolescents and young adults has been proven relatively low than in other age groups.Objectives To assess the factors associated with...

Background Since the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic in Rwanda, a vast amount of SARS-COV-2/COVID-19-related data have been collected including COVID-19 testing and hospital routine care data. Unfortunately, those data are fragmented in silos with different data structures or formats and cannot be used to improve understanding of the disease, monitor...

Background: Since the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic in Rwanda, a vast amount of SARS-COV-2/COVID-19-related data have been collected including COVID-19 testing and hospital routine care data. Unfortunately, those data are fragmented in silos with different data structures or formats and cannot be used to improve understanding of the disease, monito...

Introduction The World Health Organization reported that one third of global population was tobacco smoker. In countries with a high tuberculosis burden, a big proportion was attributed to tobacco smoking. In the general population of Rwanda, the prevalence of tobacco smoking was higher among males (14%) compared to females (3%). We conducted a sec...

Background The World Health Organization recommends isoniazid preventive therapy (IPT) for six months for child contacts without tuberculosis (TB), who are exposed to an adult with active TB. The effectiveness of IPT depends on 80% or greater adherence to medication. In the current study, we assessed IPT adherence and explored barriers to and facil...

Follow-up form for child contacts on isoniazid preventive therapy. (PDF)

Interview guide English version. (PDF)

Interview Kinyarwanda version. (PDF)

Introduction To report on the diagnostic yield using the Xpert MTB/RIF assay on gastric lavage samples from children (<15 years) who were household contacts of tuberculosis (TB) cases in Kigali, Rwanda. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted among 216 child contacts of index cases with sputum smear-positive TB over a 7 month period, from 1s...

Objective To assess the uptake of isoniazid preventive therapy (IPT) by eligible children in Kigali, Rwanda, and associated individual, households, and healthcare systems characteristics. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted among child contacts of index cases having sputum smear-positive pulmonary tuberculosis. Data were collected from 1...

Introduction: For decades, many low and mid income countries (LMIC) have invested significant effort to improve access to and quality of health care, with less attention paid to the non-clinical, administrative hospital management. Accordingly, a practical personnel filing system was designed and implemented to improve file management efficiency. M...

Introduction New infections of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) remain a big problem in many countries. Different interventions have been implemented to improve the general knowledge of HIV, with the hypothesis that increasing HIV knowledge will reduce risky sexual behavior (RSB). However, HIV knowledge may not necessarily reduce RSB. This study...

After the genocide in Rwanda, the country's healthcare system collapsed. Remarkable gains have since been made by the state to provide greater clinical service capacity and expand health policies that are grounded on locally relevant evidence. This commentary explores the challenges faced by Rwanda in building an infrastructure for clinical trials....

This study aims at determining the knowledge, attitudes and practices of urban refugee women regarding the exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) in order to promote its practice among this group of population and increase the number of women who adhere to it for achieving a better development of their children. The specific objectives of the study are to d...

Abortion is illegal in Rwanda except when necessary to protect a woman's physical health or to save her life. Many women in Rwanda obtain unsafe abortions, and some experience health complications as a result. To estimate the incidence of induced abortion, we conducted a national sample survey of health facilities that provide postabortion care and...