Rwanda
Country Overview
Rwanda, with a population of about 10 million, is the most densely populated country in Africa. It also faces widespread poverty. 60% of Rwandans live in rural areas and the vast majority relies on subsistence agriculture for a living. The entire country has less than 1,000 doctors, with only 185 of them in rural areas; the mortality rate for children under 5 is 203 deaths per 1,000 live births. Rwanda’s government is working to reduce poverty by improving education, infrastructure, foreign and domestic investment, and by pursuing market-oriented reforms, although it still faces several challenges to growth.
Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) – especially soil-transmitted helminths (STHs) and schistosomiasis – are prevalent throughout Rwanda. In 2007, over 65% of school-children were found to be infected with STHs nationwide; in the Northern Province, the prevalence rate exceeded 80%. Since research and control efforts for NTDs had not been completed since before the genocide in 1994, the Ministry of Health and local NGOs did not fully recognize the country’s severe NTD burden.
Current Effort
In 2007, Legatum provided funding - through Geneva Global - to the Global Network for a three-year initiative dedicated to NTD control in Rwanda. In collaboration with the Earth Institute at Columbia University, the Access Project has built a strong foundation for sustainable NTD control through partnership development, training of health professionals and teachers, and mapping and baseline surveys.
In the past three years, the Access Project in close partnership with the Rwandan Ministry of Health, provided over 17 million deworming treatment to Rwandans. In one recent campaign in October of 2009, 4 million children and 500,000 post-partum mothers were treated. In schistosomiasis-endemic areas, the Rwanda NTD Control Program has also treated nearly 600,000 individuals. The Rwanda NTD Control Program has made remarkable progress in cultivating leadership, building capacity, strengthening health systems, and generating program efficiency. Through strong collaboration with the government, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and other partners, the program has leveraged monetary support from partners such as Feed the Children International, Food for the Hungry, UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO), and treated millions. The NTD program has built promising health infrastructures founded in human capital, prevention efforts and strong partnerships that have the potential to support many more years of deworming campaigns.
Remaining Gap
Rwanda’s remarkable NTD control successes continues to face obstacles due to insufficient infrastructure. Many health centers have neither electricity nor running water, making it difficult to deliver quality health services. At the end of the three-year funded program, Rwanda will likely need support to provide the non-donated treatments to at-risk and infected populations around the country. Prevention efforts (improvements to water and sanitation) are also a major need and a major point of discussion at the July 2010 Annual Program Meeting. To support NTD control in Rwanda, please click here.
