The Government will help hospitals restock anti-Malaria medicines on time, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health, Agnes Binagwaho, has said. She was reacting to the finding of the Rwanda Service Provision Assessment Survey (RSPA) that was disseminated on Tuesday at Prime Holdings.

"Many hospitals are experiencing shortages because there has been lack of sufficient procurement methods of anti Malaria drugs in all the medical facilities. So the government is going to improvise a better procurement process to ensure that there are no more shortages,” Binagwaho said.

The RSPA report also observed that only 37 percent of these facilities have laboratories and few have rapid tests for Malaria.

"Hospitals will have to be equipped with testing facilities if we are to curb Malaria. So the statistics from the survey will help the ministry to plan and avail these services,” she affirmed.

The Permanent Secretary observed that there has been significant reduction of diagnosed cases and deaths. She attributed this to the massive distribution of more than 1.4 million long-lasting treated nets, massive insecticide spraying campaigns, cleanliness of the city and better community-based treatment.

"The government embarked on massive spraying last year and this has greatly reduced mosquitoes. Also the distribution of treated mosquito nets and the follow ups done to see that they are effectively used has also led to the decrease of Malaria cases,” Binagwaho noted.

According to the Health Management Information System (HMIS), Malaria was the leading cause of illness and death in Rwanda in 2006; it represented 37 percent of outpatient’s visits and 41 percent of hospital deaths.

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