Rwanda’s health insurance scheme a model for all

Editor,I commend the Government of Rwanda for the medical insurance schemes set up for its citizens.I read in the newspaper   yesterday that a visiting delegation from the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) of Nigeria was impressed by the country’s health insurance policies, noting that there are best practices that Rwanda can share with their country.

Thursday, June 23, 2011
Mutuelle de Sante programme and the workers medical insurance (RAMA) have helped many (File Photo)

Editor,

I commend the Government of Rwanda for the medical insurance schemes set up for its citizens.

I read in the newspaper   yesterday that a visiting delegation from the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) of Nigeria was impressed by the country’s health insurance policies, noting that there are best practices that Rwanda can share with their country.

I have worked and lived in several African and European countries but as the Nigerians would attest, the efficiency with which the different health schemes in Rwanda operate is one to be envied.

One wonders what the trick has been for the country to smoothly implement the Mutuelle de Sante program and the employees medical insurance (RAMA) without encountering financial or administrative constraints.

I can testify that over time, I have seen how helpful medical insurance is to me and my family and we can only be thankful.

In Rwanda, the poorest of the poor access the same kind of medical care everyone else receives, thanks to the insurance schemes.

Like the Nigerian delegation said, Rwanda’s health insurance policies should be emulated by other African countries.

Charles Kanamugire
Kimihurura-Gasabo