RUBAVU-Senior Managers in the Ministry of Health and Rwanda Biomedical Centre are on a two-day retreat in Rubavu, mapping up strategies of delivering better healthcare programs and services.

According to the Director General of Health Communication Centre at RBC, Arthur Asiimwe, the retreat is also expected to assess the progress made in the health sector during the previous financial year.

"We are looking for ways of boosting teamwork and come up with a common understanding of our obligations so as to deliver collectively as a team for the common good of our population,” said Asiimwe.

He added that managers are also revisiting the 2011-12 strategic plans to come up with a road map that will ensure that each and every goal is attained effectively and on time. 

Currently, Rwanda’s the health sector is ranked among the best performing segment of the government.

Some of the key areas of progress registered by the health sector include the reduction in maternal and child mortality rate.

The latest results of the Demographic Health Survey, show that under-five mortality rate for every 1,000 live birth has significantly dropped from 152 in 2005 to 76 in 2010. Infant mortality rate has also registered downward trend from 86 deaths in 2005 to 50 deaths by 2010 recorded at birth.

The rate of immunisation among children aged between 12-23 months stood at 90 percent in 2010 compared to75 percent in 2005. 

"Although the figures are impressive, we still believe we can perform better than that, this is why we want to come up with advanced strategies to ensure that we provide quality health services to our citizens,” said Asiimwe.

70 percent of mothers deliver from a health facility compared to 30 percent in 2005; while 98 percent receive antenatal care.

One of the success stories of Rwanda’s healthcare programs has been the family planning measures. Consequently, fertility rates have dropped from 6.1 children for the average Rwandan woman to 4.6 by 2010.

"This reduction can partly be attributed to the fact that more Rwandan mothers are beginning to use modern methods of family planning as the latest DHS results show,” said the HCC head.

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