Focus Media (Kigali)
Steve Rukundo
23 June 2008
"Although a lot has been achieved, there is still much to be done," was the unsurprising summary of Minisante's work by Health Minister Dr. Jean Damascene Ntawukuliryayo as given during a press conference last week. "Still too many children and women die at birth," the Minister said, "and much effort remains to be done on family planning, giving birth in medical facilities, and proper nutrition."
However, the Minister could also announce some major achievements made during the first six months of this year. In the first place, the number of health professionals is steadily increasing, with currently 87 doctors and 1032 nurses actively in service, whereas 42 doctors are at this moment studying for a master's degree abroad and 51 are doing the same within the country.
The ministry also wants to make access to health services easier through decentralization, which should facilitate a major "family health campaign", in which health workers visit homes in order to sensitize people on how to prevent diseases and to follow-upsick persons. Working at a local level will also increase the impact of sensitization on family planning.
Decentralization of health care is also vital for the success of the Rapid Results Initiative , which is a program in which local nurses follow up pregnant women in their community so as to ensure that the delivery takes places in a clinic. It has been tested in Gasabo district, more specifically in Gikomero, Gatsibo and Kiziguro, where it resulted in an increase in births at clinics from 13 to 44 per month.
During the press conference, the Minister also indicated that he intends to step up efforts to ensure proper vaccination. Therefore, a sensitization campaign is set to start in August targeting especially women and children, in order to raise awareness on the importance of different kinds of vaccination.
Other initiatives scheduled on the sector level in the near future are to increase vitamin A administration in order to avoid blindness amongst young children and strengthen them; making certain drugs more widely available, such as Vermox to treat stomach infections; further supply of impregnated mosquito nets; and increased sensitization on family planning.
Dr. Ntawukuliryayo further reminded people to make sure they join some form of medical insurance-be it mutuelles, RAMA, or others. He also warned against uncontrolled procreation, especially in rural areas where according to the Minister people often produce children without even considering their future welfare.
"Why produce children you will be able to sustain," he asked.
Whatever the challenges ahead, it cannot be denied that the provision of health services has greatly improved over the last years, as is shown by a comparison of some major health indicators in 2005 and today.
This comparison is made possible by the fact that since 2005, a systematic monitoring of the national strategic plan and the objectives in the health sector has been carried out. This, the Minister remarked, is essential in order to reach the targets of EDPRS in 2012, which is to develop economic welfare and reduce poverty.
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