The Ministry of Health has recorded an increase of five times in patients’ uptake of receiving healthcare services through digital systems this year as compared to last year.

Dr. Daniel Ngamije, the Health Minister said; "if you compare 2021 and 2020, there is an increase of five times in the number of patients who have been treated through the (digital) system.”

He disclosed this during a courtesy call that Dr. Ali Parsa, the founder and Chief Executive of Babylon Health, paid to Prime Minister Edouard Ngirente on December 2.

The technology led health service provider, operating as Bably in Rwanda, has been in partnership with the government since 2016 to enable Rwandans to access healthcare services remotely.

Ngamije said that the uptake was mainly recorded since the lockdown period of 2020 up to now.

He explained that the fivefold increase indicates that there are people who are using these services who don’t want to spend hours in health facilities "when they can be properly treated, getting online services…so it’s a complementary system to the traditional system that we have.”

As regards to those who are still hesitant to use the online system, Ngamije said that they counter-verify dialogues between doctors and patients, and what was prescribed and see whether patients were satisfied or not.

However, he added: "we can see that a lot of patients are satisfied with the first primary contact with the system, so people who are reluctant can test and see the outcome.”

Dr. Parsa said that they are considering expanding Babyl healthcare services by providing as according to different areas of need that the government will outline.

Prime Minister Edouard Ngirente received Dr. Ali Parsa, Founder and CEO of Babylon Health (Babyl) in Kigali on December 2,2021

"The Prime Minister asserted that he will study the need of the country and areas in which he will require us to focus, and we will do accordingly,” he said.

"The role of companies like ours and technology in general is to make whatever we do today in a more accessible and affordable way.”

Last year, Babyl and the government signed a 10-year partnership enabling Rwandans countrywide to access healthcare services through their mobile phones.

The partnership enables the firm to provide health services to patients with the community-based health insurance scheme, Mutuelle de Sante as well as lays out a partnership with health centres for services such as laboratory tests and issuing prescriptions.

Babyl Rwanda has over two million registered users and have performed over one million consultations.