Members of the Ugandan Parliament from the Committee on Health, on this Thursday, visited the Nyarugenge District Hospital as part of their benchmark visit to Rwanda.

The team, which arrived on Sunday, February 12, has been touring various medical insurance institutions such as the Rwanda Social Security Board (RSSB) as well as holding discussions with their Rwandan counterparts

They toured the hospital's facilities as part of their visit to see medical services provided to medical insurance beneficiaries.

"We're in Rwanda to take lessons from their national health insurance system, which includes a community-based health insurance program. We have heard a lot about it and thought we would come and see for ourselves, "Charles Ayume, Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Health, explained.

He added: "Africa requires home-grown solutions and ideas that are truly effective in the context of the country's history and future. African countries should also learn from one another, especially in our case, where we have a lot in common, socially, and economically. So, we thought it would be a much better place to go and benchmark."

He also explained that Uganda's medical insurance is entirely funded by taxpayers’ money, with little community-based health insurance and only 2% of private insurance, which will be debated at the upcoming Uganda National Health Insurance parliamentary debate.

Ayume’s Rwandan counterpart, MP Christine Muhongayire, said: "We are also learning from them. Knowledge exchange works both ways. However, it is primarily a privilege and a reminder to continue to improve.”

After touring the Nyarugenge District Hospital, the Ugandan delegates stated that their main takeaways would be the power of political will, the benefits of a national health insurance that covers the poor, and the integration of technology in the national referral hospital system.

"We've noticed that people aren't gliding into the National Referral Hospital. It all starts at health posts, then moves on to health centers, district hospitals, referral hospitals, and finally national referral hospitals, with simplified data collection and organization, Ayume noted.

He added that, "Integrating technology, which not only facilitates data collection, but also increases the use of cashless systems to pay for services, reduces the risks of fraud, which is good.”