Belgium to support the health sector in Kigali City

BELGIUM will fund a four-year project aimed at improving service delivery in the health sector in Kigali City, as well as putting up more Health Centers. Through the Belgian Technical Cooperation (BTC), the plan will be implemented by PAPSDSK -the Institutional Support Programme and Implementation of the Health Development Plan for Kigali City. In an exclusive interview with the Director of PAPSDSK, Samuel Van Steirteghem among others, the PAPSDSK Director declared that the project will see seven health centers built in the three districts of Gasabo, Kicukiro and Nyarugenge. “Gasabo District will have three health centers, while Nyarugenge and Kicukiro will each have,” Steirteghem said.“These health centres will have medical equipment and currently about Euro 2.5million have been earmarked for this project.” He said that as a way of supporting already existing hospitals, the project will also see the University Teaching Hospital of Kigali (UTHK) acquire a CT-Scan. The machine alone will cost an estimated 1 million Euros. Meanwhile, district hospitals, including Muhima and Kibagabaga, will also benefit. Dr. Theobald Hategekimana, UTHK`s Director General, told Sunday Times that the development will give the hospital a well-organized and effective response to the patients, especially victims of accidents who mostly need the scan service. “The machine will help us carry out specific duties on time, unlike now when we have to send patients to King Faisal Hospital for the TC-Scan services in order to identify certain effects before treatment,” Hategekimana noted. This will be the second machine in the country and according to him; it costs a private patient at King Faisal Hospital between Rwf 60,000 and 750,000 depending on the part of the body to be scanned. Ends