RWAMAGANA – Health facilities in some parts of the Eastern Province are far apart with residents taking more than one hour to reach the nearest centre, local leaders said this week.Boniface Nirenganya, the Director of Planning in Eastern Province, attributed the high infant mortality rate in some parts of the Province to low density health facilities.He was speaking at a meeting that attracted local leaders and stakeholders in Eastern Province on Thursday.Citing a recent study, Nirenganya, said the relationship between distance to health facilities and infant mortality rate couldn’t be overemphasised.The average walking time from each village to the closest health facility was obtained for both the dry and the rainy season."It takes 66 minutes of travel to access health facilities in our villages...this is a long distance. Infant mortality rate is high in the province as a result.Bugesera district has the highest, while Rwamagana district has the lowest,” he said, without giving figures.He noted that the existing poverty was partly related to sparse health infrastructure in the Province, adding that there was need for a holistic approach."Poverty is still high despite progress... 43 per cent of our population is still below the poverty line and 21 per cent in extreme poverty. And although 7 per cent of households benefited through Gir’inka programme the number of people who own cattle is still low at 44 per cent”.Nehemie Uwimana, the Mayor of Rwamagana District, reiterated the need to increase health coverage."The effect of distance to health-care facilities on childhood mortality is certainly a challenge”.He, however, said that the trend of developing health infrastructure was promising on average."The health ministry has been building health centres in sectors...the trend offers much optimism. But as of now, we need to put all stakeholders on board, to develop the health sector further,” he said.The ministry plans to open 38 new health centres across the country by next year.