Residents in Gicumbi have welcomed a pledge by the Social Democratic Party (PSD) to improve access to medicines for members of the community-based health insurance scheme (CBHI) – also known as Mutuelle de Santé – in pharmacies.

The move would be aimed at addressing the current situation where Mutuelle de Santé members do not benefit from the 90 per cent cover of medical bills under the scheme, when it comes to buying drugs in pharmacies outside public health facilities.

It is one of the promises in the party’s manifesto for the parliamentary elections due July 14-16.

The party is on an electoral campaign trail from June 22 to July 13, to garner votes for its 59 parliamentary candidates so that they get seats in the Chamber of Deputies, and for the re-election of the incumbent Paul Kagame.

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On July 8, the party held an electoral campaign rally in Gicumbi District.

At all rallies since it launched campaign activities in Bugesera District on June 22, PSD said it will strive for improvements including making Mutuelle de Santé work in all pharmacies across the country if its candidates get seats in Parliament.

"As of now, when we go to health facilities for treatment and doctors prescribe drugs for us yet they are not available there, we have to buy them from pharmacies by paying 100 per cent of the cost,” said Esperance Bagirinka, a Gicumbi District resident adding that the issue was negatively affecting access to medicines for people who cannot afford them through out-of-pocket expenditure due to limited financial means.

The proposal to make Mutuelle de Santé cover drug payments in pharmacies would be a relief for residents who subscribed to this scheme, she said.

For Jean Claude Ndereyaho, another Gicumbi District resident, the validity of Mutuelle de Santé use is limited to the level of health facilities as it does not help subscribers at pharmacy level.

He appreciated the effort towards making Mutuelle de Santé useful in terms of drug purchase in pharmacies.

Earlier, on July 5, at a campaign rally held in Gasabo District, Agnes Uwubuntu, told The New Times that one day, a doctor at one clinic in Kigali prescribed a drug for her child’s treatment, but she struggled to fully pay for it at a pharmacy as Mutuelle de Santé does not support.

"I paid Rwf20,000 for the drug,” she said, pointing out that the promise to ensure that Mutuelle de Santé covers drug payments in all pharmacies is laudable.

PSD President Vincent Biruta observed, at the campaign event in Gicumbi District on July 8, that Mutuelle de Santé has so far made progress in terms of supporting health care provision for its members, but improvement was needed to ease their access to drugs.

"What we are putting forward is that in the next five years, we make improvements such that a resident who needs medicines after consultation and prescription by a doctor, gets them closer to them, even a private pharmacy,” he said.

The party vice president, Valens Muhakwa, told The New Times, on July 7, that there have observed cases where residents [patients] were treated but, as they could not get them at health facilities, they had to buy them from other pharmacies by paying the total price [as Mutuelle de Santé was not covering part of the cost],” he said.

"This issue should be addressed so that a resident does not have to pay the total cost of a drug, yet he/she has bought health insurance,” he said.

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Meanwhile, there has been a concern of Mutuelle de Santé being underfunded, hence making it unable to cover expensive drugs for patients who use this health insurance.

On this concern, Muhakwa said that as improved access to medicines is a solution, resources should be mobilised to implement it.

If need be, he suggested, Mutuelle de Santé can be reformed with a view to get more funding for it such as through increasing residents’ contributions to the scheme or the government’s subsidy to it.

"The aim is to treat a patient and provide him/her with medicines to cure his/her disease,” he said.

As of June 2023, Mutuelle de Santé had 11.3 million subscribers, which implies a coverage of 90.5 per cent of the Rwandan population that this health insurance scheme has to cover, according to data from the Rwanda Social Security Board (RSSB) – the scheme administrator.

Established in 2003, the scheme is meant to offer medical cover to people with low incomes and those who are in informal employment.