Specific Diseases and conditions
How does a country’s economic growth affect HIV prevalence: the case of Burundi and Rwanda?
Burundi and Rwanda have many similarities. The countries both consist of two main and one minority ethnic groups, which share the same language. Kinyarwanda and Kirundi are mutually intelligible and spoken by all three ethnic groups. Both are small countries in Central Africa, bordered by Tanzania to the East and Democratic Republic of Congo to the West. The countries are about the same in geographical and population size. The rolling hills and climate are comparable, although Lake Tanganyika in Burundi is larger and has a lower
altitude than Lake Kivu, bordering Rwanda to the East.
Rwanda and Burundi have both experienced conflicts between the Hutu and Tutsi ethnic groups. The responses and the current governance strategies have, however, differed. Burundi’s Hutu president aims to ensure Hutus and Tutsis have equal opportunities for the proportion of their respective populations (approximately 80/20). Economic growth has been considerably lower in the past twenty years than Rwanda. Rwanda’s government has held tight reins to prevent a repeat of the Genocide against the Tutsis in 1994. All people are considered Rwandan and the ethnic groups are no longer discussed. A strong anti- corruption stance, focus on technology, an openness to innovation, creation of jobs and investment in planned infrastructure development have resulted in strong economic growth and attracted more donor support than Burundi.
The similarities described above, with exception of economic growth, compelled us to compare the differences in the HIV epidemiology and related behaviour. We reviewed the Demographic Health Survey reports over the past 15 years for Burundi and Rwanda. Our findings suggest that higher economic prosperity in Rwanda compared with Burundi in the past 15 years increased the risk of acquiring HIV in some population groups, in spite of iincreased access to information. This implies HIV prevention strategies in low- and middle-income countries with marked economic growth may need to be adapted for potential
changes in behaviour in certain populations. Enhanced access to social media, as economic growth rises, provides an opportunity to target those with increased risk of acquiring HIV with tailored information. We also recommend the study is repeated using the Demographic Health Survey databases for a more rigorous study.