Category: Health

{{According to International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Rwanda, there is one doctor per over 15, 000 people.

In England or Belgium, a doctor is in charge of 600 people In order to ensure a better healthcare for the population, meanwhile the Ministry of health has planned to have one doctor per 10,000 citizens by 2020.}}

In an interview with a patient at CHUB who was treated under surgery operation he mentioned that, he waited for almost a month to be treated.

The fact is there are few doctor specialized in this surgery operation available at the hospital and it takes time to be confirmed on the list of those who will be treated.

A parent with a child to be operated said, “sometimes we have to wait to be transferred to Kigali and during the waiting, the patient suffers more than before and it may result into death without meeting doctor”

Sebineza Joseph from Ministry of health in charge of Public Health facilities explains that the gap in health sector is known and its why there are partnerships with IOM for Africa Development and Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation to enhance the linkage of the Rwanda Diaspora with their home country as well as other agreements as a way to increase the effort invested in healthcare.

This is done through facilitating volunteers including; qualified Rwandan health professionals living abroad and other foreigners that wish to make meaningful contribution to public health sector development effort in Rwanda by sharing their knowledge, experience and talent, donation of their time and effort to save lives and help the country to achieve its ambitious health and Millennium goals.

Dr Nicholas Capello of IOM Rwanda Project volunteer, is an orthopedic surgeon from USA volunteering at the university Teaching Hospital of Butare known as CHUB.

He told IGIHE that there is a big number of patients and few specialist doctor to handle the patients, “This is very challenging. The number of specialists is currently limited compared to the number of cases to be treated, but we have to appreciate what is going on for the progression.”

Before the arrival of Dr Nicholas, it wasn’t easy to operate patients most of whom were refered to university Teaching Hospital of Kigali (CHUK).

However, with Dr. Capellos help the challenge has been overcome. He also teaches undergraduate and postgraduate medical students.

CHUB’s Dr. Dr Ndoli said that government may keep looking for the projects like IOM and increasing sensitization campaign about Volunteer programs.

{{Uganda Capital, Kampala is currently in panic following confirmation that a woman who died at Mulago hospital a few days ago was suffering from Ebola.

The woman had travelled from Kibale district where 14 people died from Ebola on Saturday. she was a health worker who had been handling the Ebola patients.}}

The Government of Uganda has immidiately banned any physical contact among citizens.

Schools in Uganda are reportedly closing in response to the Ebola news that has caused panic.

Clare Muhumuza 40, was admited at uganda’s largest hospital Mulago and died within a few hours. She was the clinical officer treating the patients at Kagadi Hospital.

“She came to Mulago very sick and by morning she was dead. She suffered multiple organ failure,” said a senior doctor in Mulago.

Foruteen Ugandans had been reported dead on Saturday when the deadly viral disease was reported in Kibale located 200km west of the Ugandan capital.

Mulago health workers admited they were in fear saying they had handled Muhumuza without protection in ignorance.

Currently Suzan Nabulya, a sister to the late Muhumuza, who was tending to her before she died, has been admitted at Kagadi Hospital while Muhumuza’s four month old baby, Milca Ninsima, has died.

Uganda and Rwanda are experiencing increased crossboarder inteructions on a daily basis through business and other forms of engagements.
Understanding Ebola

{{Cause:}} Ebola is caused by a virus belonging to a family called filovirus. There are five distinct types of the virus namely Ebola Zaire, Ebola Sudan, Ebola Côte d’Ivoire, Ebola Bundibugyo and Ebola Reston.

{{Transmission:}} The disease is transmitted through direct contact with the blood, secretions, organs, fluids or bodies of infected persons.

Family members and health workers handling the patients can become infected easily if they do not wear protective facilities such as gloves and masks. Ebola is not air borne.

{{Symptoms:}} The average incubation period is 21 days. The disease is characterised by sudden onset of fever, intense weakness, muscle pain, headache and sore throat.

This is often followed by vomiting, diarrhoea, rash, impaired kidney and liver function, and in some cases, both internal and external bleeding.

{{Treatment:}} No specific treatment or vaccine is yet available for Ebola haemorrhagic fever.

There is neither a cure nor a vaccine for Ebola. The patients are given symptomatic treatment to reduce pain and prevent dehydration.

Several potential vaccines and drugs are being tested but it could take years before any is available.

{{How to protect yourself}}

Isolate suspected cases from other patients

Wear gloves, goggles and masks while handling patients

Patients’ clothing should be disinfected with household bleach such as JIK

Areas contaminated with patient’s fluids should be disinfected with household bleach such as JIK

Avoid touching the bodies of those who have died of Ebola

People who have died from Ebola should be promptly and safely buried

{{A study conducted in Kenya and Uganda reveales that proper use of a new antiretroviral drug can reduce infection by 75% among discodant couples and 40% among hormosexuals.}}

World Health Organisation (WHO) says that people who are at a high risk of contracting the HIV virus could be protected if they adhered to new guidelines on the use of antiretroviral drugs issued by WHO.

This new set of guidelines will protect health workers, discordant couples, sex workers and babies, all of whom are at a high risk of getting infected with HIV virus.

These new guidelines are based on clinical trials in the UK indicating that a daily dose of oral antiretroviral medication, known as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), taken by HIV-negative people to reduce the risk of infection, is both safe for people to use and effective in preventing HIV.

WHO recommends that countries intending to introduce PrEP should first establish small projects to help public health workers better understand and realise PrEP potential benefits in preventing transmission of HIV.

Also public health workers should identify the most vulnerable groups at risk of contracting HIV for which ARVS should be given and ascertain the best ways to deliver the services to them.

{{The US government has hailed Rwanda’s progress made in the Health-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

This follows a meeting between Minister of Health Agnes Binagwaho July 27 and the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius.}}

Both leaders shared lessons from health reform efforts in Rwanda and the United States.

Dr. Binagwaho highlighted key drivers of the progress made in Rwanda saying the country’s success story has been a result of many strategies pursued simultaneously, including;

strong commitment of national and local leaders, rapidly scaling-up of proven technological and policy innovations, structures ensuring accountability at all levels in health sector, and a relentless focus on equity.

Sebelius explained that U.S government was increasing access to subsidised preventive services, based on a similar spirit to the preventive care package that is currently provided in Rwanda by RAMA.

Dr.Binagwaho responded by explaining that the package will be provided through mutuelles de santé in the future.

Secretary Sebelius and Minister Binagwaho exchanged ideas on areas for new collaborations between the United States global health programs and the Ministry of Health of Rwanda.

The two identified collaborative studies of the burden of chronic non-communicable diseases (such as heart disease, cancer, diabetes, lung disease, and mental illness) for better prevention and treatment as a top priority.

There is currently little reliable evidence on these conditions in Rwanda and in the region, so this new research will be essential to the Ministry of Health’s efforts to prevent and treat these conditions.

The meeting occurred in the context of the nineteenth International AIDS Conference.

Rwandan delegation consisting of Ministry policymakers, researchers and civil society members traveled to Washington DC for the conference and shared Rwanda’s experience in the fight against HIV/AIDS and to take lessons from other countries around the world.

During the conference, the World Bank President, Dr. Jim Yong Kim urged the world to take lessons from Rwanda’s success in integrating HIV/AIDS prevention, care, and treatment with broader anti-poverty mechanisms.

“From being an exception, [Rwanda’s] approach can become the rule,” Kim said. “This will be a leap forward in our capacity to build systems and deliver results.”

Dr. Binagwaho also met several US government officials to discuss Rwanda’s Human Resources for Health Program(HRH) and key considerations for the next set of global development goals after the end of the MDGs in 2015.

{{New Findings indicate that drug-resistant HIV is on the rise in East Africa and southern Africa.}}

According to the report published in a medical Journal –The Lancet, this could jeopardise a decade-long trend of decreasing AIDS-related illnesses and death.

Researchers have noted that Resistance to AIDS drugs in the past decade is growing in parts of Africa but should not hamper the life-saving drug rollout.

Tiny genetic mutations that make HIV immune to key frontline drugs have been increasing in eastern and southern Africa, something that should be a clear warning to health watchdogs, they said.

“Without continued and increased national and international efforts, rising HIV drug resistance could jeopardize a decade-long trend of decreasing HIV/AIDS-related illness and death in low- and middle-income countries,” they said.

The study, published in The Lancet, is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the European Union (EU).

It is the widest-ever analysis of a risk that has haunted AIDS campaigners since 2003, when drugs started to be rolled out to poorer countries that are home to more than 90 percent of people with the AIDS virus.

The nightmare is that — as with bacteria which become resistant to antibiotics — strains of HIV will emerge that will blunt the armoury of antiretrovirals, leaving millions defenceless.

Silvia Bertagnolio from the UN’s World Health Organisation and Ravindra Gupta at University College London looked at published cases of HIV resistance and supplemented this with data from the WHO itself.

Over eight years, prevalence of resistant virus in untreated people soared from around one percent to 7.3 % in eastern Africa, and from one percent to 3.7% in southern Africa, they found.

Similar rates of 3.5-7.6% were also found in western and central Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean.

The difference, though, is that they remained quite stable throughout this period, and did not experience such a big rise.

The mutations were found in strains of HIV-1 virus that made them resistant to a class of drugs called non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors, or NNRTIs.

These are the first-option treatments for HIV infection and are also used to prevent transmission of the virus from a pregnant woman to her foetus.

If a patient is resistant to the drug, the risks of sickness and death rise in line with levels of virus.

Further treatment options do exist beyond NNRTIs, but these second-line regimens are often far costlier.

The paper says countries should step up monitoring of HIV resistance and take steps to guard against start-stop treatment that fuels the problem.

They can do this by ensuring that drug supplies are not interrupted and by beefing up monitoring of patients to encourage them to follow the daily pill-taking regimen.

Despite the concern, the rollout should carry on, says the paper.

“Estimated levels, although increasing, are not unexpected in view of the large expansion of antiretroviral treatment coverage seen in low-income and middle-income countries — no changes in antiretroviral treatment guidelines are warranted at the moment.”

Around 33 million people around the world have HIV.

In 2011, about eight million badly infected people in poorer countries had access to HIV-suppressing drugs, a figure 26 times greater than the number in 2003 but still only just over half of those in need.

The report coincided with the 19th International AIDS conference, a six-day event running in Washington until Friday.

{{Cucumber is a very edible fruit which comes from the cucumber plant cucumis sativus in the gourd family.

This fruit can be eaten raw or cooked. With so many health benefits, it is one of the most important parts of food diet as well as skin diet.}}

{{Cucumber for eyes:}} it is believed that cucumber helps in reducing swelling around the eyes or the dark circles under your eyes because it is an anti- inflamentory, hydrating and cooling snack.

This is an easy homemade and natural treatment friendly with sensitive, allergic skins. They are the most wonderful and natural eye pads you can find for yourself.

The puffiness and tiredness in your eyes may just leave you if you do this in a relaxed fashion.

{{Cucumber for skin:}} if you have a rough or very sensitive skin (against sun rays), cucumber is good for you.

Both the cucumber and your skin share the same level of hydrogen. Cucumber helps soothing and softening your skin and gets you relaxed in no time.

{{Cucumber for headache:}} after a long hectic day, chances are you are to get a headache, avoid it by eating a few cucumber slices before going to bed and wake up refreshed and headache free.

{{Cucumber for cellulites:}} try rubbing a slice or two of cucumber along your problem area for a few minutes.

The phyto chemicals in the cucumber cause the collagen in your skin to tighten firming up the outer layer and reducing the visibility of cellulites. It works great on wrinkles too.

{{Cucumber for shoes:}} Rub a cucumber over your shoe, its chemicals provide a quick and durable shine that repels water.

{{Cucumber for fresh breath:}} After a meal or drink, take a slice of cucumber, press it on the roof of your mouth with your tongue for 30 seconds.

{{Cucumber as an eraser:}}Take the outside of cucumber and slowly use it to erase the pen, pencil or marker writing.

{{The Former United States President Bill Clinton and Rwanda’s Minister of Health Dr. Agnes Binagwaho inaugurated Butaro Cancer cente on 18th July Burera district Northern Province.}}

Dr. Binagwaho said that they will open 2 branches at CHK and King Faysal hospital in Kigali that will work together with Butaro Hospal for cancer prevention program.

Clinton said that if people work together all things are possible.He said that Clinton foundation helps in the health activities. He thanked President Paul Kagame for the good collaboration.

Dr.Tharcisse Mpunga, the Director of Butaro Hospital said that construction cost US$ 5.8 Million and US$ 1.5 Milion cost of materials.

The First National Cancer Referral Center in Rural East Africa will bring comprehensive cancer care to rural East Africa.

Butaro cancer center will help in limitations against the global cancer burden.

World Health Organization expects 16 million new Cencer cases worldwide by 2020,with 70% in developing countries like Rwanda.

Butaro Cancer center will provide a full spectrum of cancer care including screening, diagnosis, chemotherapy, Surgery, patients follow-up,and palliative care.
It will also serve as the first facility to implement standardized cancer training and protocols that align with Rwanda’s new national guidelines.

Since 2005,partners in health/Inshuti mu Buzima (PIH/IMB) has worked together with Ministry of Health to strengthen the national health system.

In collaboration with Clinton Global Initiative, with the support of the Jeff Gordon Children’s foundation and the Dana Farber/Brigham and woman’s cancer centre inaugurated the Butaro Center of Excellence.

Since 2007,more than 100 patients with a range of cancers have been treated and it will continue to advise and support the advancement of cancer prevention and care in Rwanda.

{{The Ministry of Health of the Republic of Rwanda, Partners in Health, the Jeff Gordon Children’s Foundation and the Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women’s Cancer Center will July 18, inaugurate the Butaro Cancer Center of Excellence, which will serve as the first national cancer referral facility in rural Rwanda. }}

The Center, located within Butaro Hospital in northern rural Rwanda, is a critical element of Rwanda’s ambitious five-year plan to introduce cancer prevention, screening and treatment on a national level.

The facility’s opening will mark a major milestone as the first center of its kind to bring comprehensive cancer care to rural East Africa.

“Just a few years ago we had no system or financing mechanism to diagnose and treat AIDS in Africa. People said it was too expensive or too complicated. But today nearly 7 million people in developing countries are receiving treatment for HIV.

We can do the same with cancer,” said Paul Farmer, co-founder Partners In Health and chair of Harvard’s Department of Global Health and Social Medicine.

Rwanda has a population of nearly 11 million people — and not a single Rwandan oncologist. Childhood cancers like acute lymphoblastic leukemia, which has an 80 percent cure rate in the United States, are a virtual death sentence for children in Rwanda.

“As Rwanda makes significant strides in combating major infectious diseases like HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria, the government is also putting a lot of effort into the diagnosis and treatment of the most frequently occurring non-communicable diseases.

The new Butaro Cancer Centre of Excellence not only comes at an appropriate time, but also feeds well into this vision and adds value to the interventions we have designed in combating NCDs.

We appreciate the role of our partners in making this dream of screening, diagnosing, and treating some cancers become a reality in our country,” Dr. Agnes Binagwaho, Minister of Health.

The Cancer Center of Excellence aims to address both existing resource limitations and the growing global cancer burden. The World Health Organization expects 16 million new cancer cases worldwide by 2020, with 70 percent in developing countries like Rwanda.

The Butaro Cancer Center of Excellence will provide a full spectrum of cancer care including screening, diagnosis, chemotherapy, surgery, patient follow-up, and palliative care.

It will also serve as the first facility to implement standardized cancer training and protocols that align with Rwanda’s new national guidelines.

{{The Ministry of Health on 9th July, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with France that will serve as a framework for a structured university medical cooperation that will improve healthcare in Rwanda.}}

The Minister of Health, Dr. Agnes Binagwaho signed the MoU with Chantal Bes, the First Counsellor of Co-operation, Cultural and Development Affairs at the French Embassy in Rwanda.

Dr. Binagwaho explained that the agreement would be specific to a few medical fields including intensive care and reanimation, emergency care, anesthesiology, cancer logy, oncology and plastic surgery among others.

These priorities were set by both the health ministry officials and French officials, following meetings that were held in November 2011 and February 2012.

The agreement states that the French actors are committed to come to Rwanda on a regular basis to provide theoretical and practical teaching, give Rwandan medics internship opportunities in France as well as assist Rwandan institutions in the elaboration of the academic curriculum.

Based on the same agreement, Rwandans willing to study in France will also be able to acquire scholarships.

Officials noted that the memorandum of understanding provides a general framework in which institutions from both sides have to develop their partnerships, in line with the priorities designed by the government of Rwanda.

The Honorable Minister of Health noted that this initiative is another move that will equip Rwandan medics with higher skills which will in turn accelerate the much desired goal of ensuring quality service delivery in Rwanda.

{{The world’s most widely used oral contraceptive Microgynon® Fe is currently available on the Rwandan market for an affordable price.

The new price enables middle-income couples to access a quality, affordable family planning product.}}

Microgynon® Fe is now available in pharmacies at a significantly lower price as a result of an innovative public-private partnership between Bayer HealthCare and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

The partnership is designed to make more affordable family planning choices available to women through the private sector and address the growing demand for contraceptives and the overall sustainability of supply.

Family planning allows couples to plan their families as they desire, reduces the risks from unwanted and/or high-risk pregnancies, and improves the health of mothers and their children by allowing time between pregnancies.

After the introduction of Microgynon® Fe in Ethiopia, Uganda, Tanzania, and Rwanda, the Bayer-USAID partnership will expand the initiative to several more Sub-Saharan countries by 2014.

USAID’s Mission Director in Rwanda, Dennis Weller, emphasized the importance of public-private partnerships in helping governments meet their Millennium Development Goals.

“We are pleased that this important initiative between USAID and Bayer HealthCare is being extended to Rwanda. The private sector has an important role to play in contributing to sustainable development, and in this case, by ensuring that Rwandan women have access to a sustainable supply of quality, affordable oral contraceptives.”

“Combined oral contraceptives are 99% effective when used consistently and correctly. It also provides women with a reversible method that is easy to discontinue and has a rapid return to fertility.

Microgynon® Fe is being used by millions of women around the world and is well known and trusted by medical professionals”, said Danny Mutembe, Chief Pharmacist and Deputy Director General, Pharmacie Conseil.

Women interested in finding out more information about Microgynon® Fe should talk with their nearest private healthcare provider.

Microgynon® Fe is manufactured in Germany by Bayer HealthCare and imported to Rwanda by Surgipharm Rwanda, Ltd.