Partners In Health (PIH) has, this year, invested Rwf 1.5 billion to put up and rehabilitate health centres in Kirehe District.

PIH Deputy Country Representative, Antoinette Habinshuti, disclosed this during a colourful ceremony to hand over the newly refurbished health centres of Mushikiri and Gahara to district authorities on Wednesday.

Habinshuti said that her NGO funds programs that make long-term, sustainable improvement and pledged continued support towards healthcare development in the district .

"We helped in the building and renovation of the 13 health centres in the district. We gave the health centres qualified staff. They have access to ICT and are well equipped to offer patients quality services,” she said.

The Permanent Secretary Ministry of Health, Dr. Uzziel Ndagijimana, hailed PIH’s work in the country, saying that it was helping the district to realise its development goals, and urgedlocal residents to jealously safeguard the health infrastructure.

"Health issues are vast...they thus need a holistic approach, where every individual must be involved. PIH has done a great service to Kirehe district and the country at large by supporting health centres and hospitals,” he said.

The Mayor of Kirehe District, Protais Murayire acknowledged that PIH had contributed in significantly improving health standards in the district.

He said that well equipped health centres, coupled with a developed rural road network, had made Kirehe a good area to live.

"Most of the health centres were crumbling and actually offered no service to people. But since the activities of PIH started in 2005, Kirehe has had an extraordinary facelift. People walked over 30 kilometres to access medical care, so expectant mothers had a hard time,” he said.

Gahara health centre serves over 22,000 people, including Burundians, who live just five kilometres across from the Rwandan border.

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