The Covid-19 pandemic made more evident the need to galvanise efforts to build a strengthened and resilient healthcare system in Africa. Rwanda has taken steps to prioritise accessible, affordable, quality, and efficient delivery of healthcare over the past years, a move to advance it towards achieving universal health coverage. To advance the development of hosting multiple international and local projects to bolster and map the country as a medical tourism hub in the region and on the continent, Rwanda is working on a master plan to change the Masaka area in Kicukiro District into Kigali Health City. According to Dr Sabin Nsanzimana, Minister of Health, the project involves different partners including the Rwanda Development Board, and the City of Kigali, among others, with the aim to not only make Kigali an economic and innovation centre, but also a health hub. He noted that Kigali Health City seeks to create a green, clean, and healthy environment for professionals, doctors, patients, caregivers, and others who need health-related services. Besides different institutions currently under construction, or planned to be built in the area, Nsanzimana added that the city would have hotels, supermarkets, recreation, and conference centres, for an enabling environment. The institutions include: Surgical research, training centre – IRCAD Africa On October 10, IRCAD Africa was launched in Masaka, providing a training ground for Rwandan and African surgeons to specialise in advanced minimally invasive surgery techniques. It plans to train 500-1,000 surgeons annually in modern medical technology that minimises pain and trauma on patients, allowing for shorter periods spent in the hospital, a lower risk of bleeding and infection, and a speedy recovery. ALSO READ: How Rwanda’s next-gen surgery works IRCAD Africa, which employs artificial intelligence in research and training, will provide skills and knowledge to the next generation of surgeons across various specialties, including general surgery, urology, gynaecology, ear, nose, and throat (ENT) surgery, neurosurgery, anaesthesiology, and orthopaedics. CHUK Hospital The new University Teaching Hospital of Kigali (CHUK) undergoing construction in Masaka will have more than 10 building blocks, built on 8.2 hectares. It will become a referral and teaching hospital. Upon completion expected in 2025, the new CHUK will have 837 beds and a capacity to receive 2,000 patients per day, making it the largest hospital in Rwanda. ALSO READ: Eight things to know about CHUK hospital relocation A bigger part of CHUK will also have more services that were unavailable at the old facility. In addition to inpatient, outpatient, emergency, paediatric, and infectious diseases departments, the new services will include an air compressor room, an oxygen generator station, a radiology department, a blood bank and laboratory department, and a central sterile supply department. My Heart Care Centre The $20 million (approx. Rwf24 billion) facility, whose construction was launched on December 29, is being built in three phases, and expected to be finished in 2024. It will include a research wing, clinics, operation theatres, radiology rooms, laboratories, pharmacies, accommodation, and an administration block, with a bed capacity of 1,000 people. ALSO READ: First Lady breaks ground on $20m Heart Care Center The centre will be for cardiovascular care and will be able to provide simple and more complex surgeries from the beginning that include angioplasty for problems like hypertension, chest pain, and more. RBC and Rwanda FDA laboratories Nsanzimana said Rwanda Biomedical Centre (RBC) and Rwanda Food and Drug Authority (FDA) plan to construct their own laboratories in Masaka, next to CHUK. As Rwanda looks forward to the inauguration of the BioNTech vaccine manufacturing plant, he said the country plans to set up a fully-fledged FDA laboratory which will be part of an ecosystem of factory production, regulatory systems, and government will to create an environment for medical, pharmaceutical research and clinical trials. In addition, Rwanda FDA is preparing to reach Maturity Level 3 recognition by the World Health Organization which will strengthen it to build a regulatory environment that will capacitate quality assurance of pharmaceutical products as well as local production of vaccines. Headquarters of University of Global Health Equity Masaka will also host the headquarters of the University of Global Health Equity (UGHE), a medical university owned by Partners In Health (PIH), an international non-profit organisation. UGHE offers two flagship programmes, the Masters in Global Health Delivery (MGHD) which has already graduated seven cohorts, and its physician training programme which is a dual degree programme offered with the MGHD and is now in its fourth year. The university was recognised as the second-highest-ranking university in terms of impact on the African continent in the inaugural Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) University Rankings and also scooped the ASPIRE-to-Excellence Award in health professions education from the Association of Medical Education of Europe (AMEE). Centre of Excellence for Infectious Diseases and Isolation In addition, Kigali Health City will also see the construction of a Centre of Excellence for Infectious Diseases and Isolation, according to Nsanzimana. Though details around the centre are not yet revealed, it is understood that it will play a major role in this ecosystem, addressing some of the most challenging infectious diseases on the continent. Kigali Health City Project is strategically located in an area that creates an ecosystem for both service seekers and players in the health sector, as it is near the Intare Conference Arena for hosting health-related events and in the valleys of Umusambi Village as a recreation centre. Nsanzimana noted that there are more international projects with the potential to be established in the area.
