Regular follow-up for Tuberculosis patients and other community outreach programmes will be enhanced to accelerate recovery, officials have said.As part of that move, the Ministry of Health yesterday distributed 237 motorcycles worth Rwf545 million to health centres and local NGO’s.Jean Damascene Rurangirwa, a health worker at Tabagwe Health Centre in Nyagatare District, noted that with the new motorcycles, they would be able to carry out follow-up on more patients. “We only had one motorcycle we got back in 2005. This motorcycle was supposed to serve the whole health centre with a population of 28,976 in Tabagwe,” he said.Rurangirwa added that they visit patients at least three times a month, and that sometimes there are many patients that need their services but transport becomes a challenge.He noted that the same motorcycle was also being used to monitor malaria patients, carry out vaccination and family planning sensitization programs.Matthew Niyonkuru, a representative from Gakenke District Hospital, said that besides reaching out to TB patients, the motorcycles will be used to reach out to the community, sensitize about HIV/AIDS and follow up on pregnant women, encouraging them to go for ante-natal care and give birth from proper health facilities.He added that each health centre will have at least one motorcycle to ease transport, while providing health services to the community.Dr Claver Kayumba, the acting Director of Rwanda Biomedical Centre, said that the AG 100 YAMAHA motorcycles will help the health workers continue improving the health system, especially by strengthening the diagnosis and treatment of TB.
