The Butaro Cancer Centre is currently undergoing expansion works that will increase its capacity from 150 to 250 beds, among other key improvements.

According to information from Partners in Health, a non-government organisation that collaborates with Rwanda to run the centre, by December next year, the hospital will not only have larger space for patients, but will also provide more services in regards to cancer care. 

Under the improvements, the hospital will establish an additional 54 beds for oncology patients, a new isolation facility with 16 beds capacity, an expanded imaging department, a new administration block, additional medical equipment, as well as other facilities such as a laundry bloc, a sterilisation room, a patient attendant shelter, public parking, among others. 

The centre’s Internal Medicine Ward capacity will be increased from 26 to 48 beds, the surgical ward from 26 to 44 beds, in addition to setting up an improved adult oncology ward with 31 beds, and a general pediatric ward with 31 beds as well.

Also to be established are: a new Intensive Care Unit (ICU) with 4 beds, a gynecology ward with 10 beds, an additional 12 surgical beds, an improved maternity bloc, 2 additional operating theatres and a new specialized Out-patient department.

The hospital’s imaging department will also be boosted with the introduction of more equipment including a CT-scan, mammography and X-ray, among others.

Speaking to The New Times, Cyprien Shyirambere, PIH’s Program Director in Burera District spoke about how important the expansion is in terms of improving cancer care.

"It will impact cancer care delivery at Butaro Hospital in many ways, one of which is providing more space for our patients. We have been seeing a 20 to 15 percent increase in the number of cancer patients who come to seek care at the hospital every year. So there is a need for more space,” he said.

"There is also a need for specialized services. The expansion will include an Intensive Care Unit, for example, which will help us care for very sick patients. It will enable us to provide more intense chemotherapy. In cancer care, if you don’t have access to an ICU, there are some treatment modalities that you cannot use, because if the patients get too sick (due to the treatment), you cannot manage them,” he added.

Every year, the cancer centre receives about 1800 new patients. This is in addition to about 3500 active patients.

Shyirambere also commented on the introduction of new imaging equipment at the centre, especially the introduction of CT-scans.

"The hospital has only been using the standard x-ray machines and ultrasound. But very soon we are going to have C-T scan machines for example. A C-T scan is a very important machine for the diagnosis of cancer, examining the stages of cancer and monitoring the treatment,” he said.

"So, the improvement of the imaging unit is really going to impact cancer care delivery. We have been sending our patients to Kigali to have CT-scans, but this was associated with a number of challenges. For example, patients would face travel difficulty, among other expenses,” he added.

Meanwhile, according to statistics from the Director of Cancer Diseases Unit at the Rwanda Biomedical Centre (RBC), the number of people diagnosed with cancer since 2015 more than doubled, from 2,115 cases to 5,040 in 2019.

A view of the upcoming hospital.