Government and the Kingdom of Belgium have signed a financial agreement to support the health sector.

The financial agreement worth Euros18 million (about Rwf16 billion) will be channelled through the Ministry of Health, according to Claver Gatete, Minister for Finance and Economic Planning.

Gatete said this yesterday during the signing ceremony held in Kigali, where he stated that the money is part of the ongoing healthcare programmes worth Euros 52 million Euros (Rwf46 billion) funded by the Belgians through direct budget support.

"Our Vision 2020 is people-centred. In this light, provision of health services is very critical. The idea therefore, is to improve the quality of health care services, including the management of hospitals, while continuing to expand geographical and financial accessibility. The support will contribute to the achievement of our health sector goals,” he said.

Belgium has been supporting the health sector through sector budget support since 2008. Overall, 25 per cent of all Belgian development aid to Rwanda is provided through sector budget support. 

"Belgium, being the only bilateral donor providing budget support to the health sector, we are particularly willing to contribute to the process of finding innovative ideas to meet the sector’s medium-term resource needs and ensure the sustainability of the system while maintaining equity and quality of service delivery,” said Pauwels.

Besides the health sector, the Belgian cooperation programme is supporting the energy sector and the decentralisation process in Rwanda among other areas, contributing to the implementation of the second Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy, EDPRS II.

Dr Patrick Ndimubanzi, Minister of State in charge of Public Health and Primary Healthcare said they will use the money to boost the quality of health services in the country and most importantly purchase modern medical technological equipment. 

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