The Minister of Health, Dr Richard Sezibera, last week completed a tour of health sites in the Southern and Western provinces, during which he delivered President Paul Kagame’s pledge of mobile phones to 1350 Community Based Health Workers in Nyaruguru District. Kirehe district also received 1150.

Rwanda is flooded with various types of mobile handsets and has taken great strides in the development of Information Communication Technology. It’s big news that the country is now concentrating on how mobile technology can help promote development, especially among rural communities.

This is a perfect example of how we can take advantage of the available infrastructure to find solutions to challenges that the Rwandan people face. 

With the mobile phones, the health workers will be able to coordinate their sector’s activities in a more centralized manner, therefore, promoting quality care, an issue that has been a challenge in the delivery of health services.

Additionally, the use of these phones will save hospital staff a lot of time which would have otherwise been spent monitoring patients. The phones will bring emergency medical care to patients who would have gone unnoticed and allow treatment for many more patients, considering that not all Rwandans have the benefit of health care facilities within their neighborhood.

The real time consultation and sharing of expertise is another benefit that accrues to this technology, something that should be recognized and appreciated.

It is through such initiatives, that we shall keep our population healthy, strong and, therefore, more productive.

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