USAID Ivuriro Iwacu Activity to Expand Health Services to More than 360,000 Rwandans
Kigali – The United States Agency for International Development, in partnership with One Family Health, has awarded a new two-year activity, called USAID Ivuriro Iwacu, which will expand primary health services for more than 360,000 Rwandans.
The main goal of the USAID Ivuriro Iwacu activity is to establish an additional 72 Health Posts through a public-private partnership with the Ministry of Health. Health Posts are the lowest level facility in the Rwandan system and a key strategic priority for the Ministry of Health in support of the goal “to ensure universal accessibility (in geographical and financial terms) of equitable and affordable quality health services for all Rwandans”. To establish these new Health Posts, the USAID Ivuriro Iwacu activity will leverage resources from partners including Ecobank Rwanda, the Ecobank Foundation, GlaxoSmithKline, LifeSense, and Covington and Burling, LLP.
By founding 72 additional health posts, the USAID Ivuriro Iwacu activity (a Kinyarwanda phrase that means “health facility at our home,”) will expand access to quality primary health care services to rural communities, with a focus on improving maternal health, reducing child mortality and increasing access to family planning. The activity will support national priorities to expand access to healthcare at community level.
One Family Health currently supports 110 Health Posts across 14 Districts in Rwanda. These Health Posts are provided by District Authorities under the Ministry of Local Government and owned and operated by local nurses with support from One Family Health in the form of training, essential medicines, quality assurance, and an electronic clinic management system.
In addition to improving the health of Rwandans by expanding access to quality primary care, USAID Ivuriro Iwacu will enable 72 more local nurses to become entrepreneurs and create more than 140 new jobs in rural communities over the course of the next two years.