EASTERN PROVINCE

GATSIBO – A team of 15 specialised medical German doctors on Monday started offering free treatment for different ailments to residents of Gatsibo District, at Ngarama Hospital.

The doctors from Plan Germany are in the country at the invitation of Plan International Rwanda, in conjunction with Rwanda’s Ministry of Health. They include specialists in skin diseases, opticians Paediatricians among others.

At a ceremony organised to welcome the doctors at the hospital premises, the hospital Director Dr Benon Rukunda Karekezi, said the visiting team will help attend to severe cases that they have been referring to other hospitals. He listed malaria, pneumonia, diarrhoea, and tuberculosis as among the common diseases there.

"For sometime (during their stay), we shall not refer severe cases to other hospitals,” he said. He disclosed that they have empowered community health workers to attend to preventable  diseases in villages.

At the ceremony, the Gatsibo Mayor John Murego, who was flanked by the Country Director of Plan Rwanda, Dr Mamadou Kante, commended the visiting team pointing out that it was a sign of the care the Rwanda government attaches to its citizens.

He urged residents to ensure proper hygiene and sanitation in their homes and proper feeding in order to prevent certain forms of diseases.

He stressed that the government was keen to have a healthy nation in order for them to engage in poverty eradication activities.

Plan Rwanda carries out several interventions in health and education sectors in Gatsibo district.

According to their area Unit manager Mediatrice Umfoyisoni, the NGO last year started constructing the Rwf.506m Kabarore Hospital, expected to be completed by June.

They are also constructing a girls’ dormitory at Kiziguro Secondary School expected to cost Rwf170m. Once completed, it will have a capacity to accommodate about 600 students, she said.

The visiting medics are in the country from February 23 to March 5.

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