Families and communities are the major stakeholders in fighting against HIV/AIDS. They constitute the most players in the response to HIV and AIDS in children with great focus on the four major pediatric HIV
programmatic areas:

I. Primary prevention of HIV among adolescents and young people;

II. Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission of HIV (PMTCT);

III. Pediatric HIV care and treatment;

IV. Protection of orphans and other vulnerable children (OVC) infected and affected by HIV and AIDS.

Successes in the eradication of HIV infection among children and adolescents and women and the mitigation of AIDS related impact on them rely on the engagement of families and community to take leadership, demonstrate ownership, and sustain the response.
The 8th National Annual Pediatric Conference on children infected and affected by HIV and AIDS on theme “Strengthening Community Ownership for Equitable, Effective and Sustainable Response to HIV among Children in Rwanda” is scheduled for November 21st – 23rd 2012 in Kigali as a platform to explore the ways the community can be strengthened to be more engaged, own and sustain the response to HIV among children in Rwanda.