The Future of Health Care in Rwanda Starts with a Strong Government Partnership

By Samson Radeny, Chief of party, Ingobyi Project, Rwanda ; Katherine Seaton, Editorial Officer Photo by Charles Harris for IntraHealth International.February 13, 2020Just a decade ago, Rwanda struggled to provide high-quality health services. But when the Millennium and Sustainable Development Goals pushed for change, Rwanda was focused, proactive, and determined to provide better for its 12 million people. Now, the country is an example of how hopes for better health care can become a reality.In the past two decades, the maternal mortality rate in Rwanda hasdropped from 1,071 to 210 deaths per 100,000 live births and the under-five mortality rate has dropped from 196 to 50 deaths per 1,000 live births. Now, 90% of women have skilled assistance during delivery, child immunizations have steadily improved and 93% of children aged 12 to 23 months have received all basic vaccines.And that’s just the beginning. Rwanda is making changes in its maternal and child health care, health workforce, infrastructure, and service delivery to achieve universal access to equal and affordable quality health services. It’s also turning its focus to global health security—the country shares a border with the Democratic Republic of Congo, which is currently experiencing the world’s second-largest Ebola epidemic.We sat down with Samson Radeny, the leader of IntraHealth’s Rwanda programs, to discuss what the future of health care looks like in the cou...
Source: IntraHealth International - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Tags: Infectious Diseases Maternal, Newborn, & Child Health Digital Health Leadership and Governance IntraHealth ' s 40th Anniversary Community Health Workers Source Type: news