As they celebrated the 25th anniversary of the creation of the Medical Student’s Association of Rwanda (MEDSAR), members said that they dedicated this milestone towards raising awareness around Non Communicable Diseases (NDCs). As part of their celebrations, they held public screening for eyes and dental care in Kayonza District, during which they found a big number of people in need of medical attention. Diane Ishimwe Nzanana, a student in medicine at the University of Rwanda who participated in the outreach activity said that many cited lack of means as the reason they were not seeking medical attention. Patients found with eye and dental problems were provided with eyeglasses and prescribed toothpaste, and those who couldn’t afford medical care were assisted by the associations partners to get the medical care they need. The president of the association, Eric Niyongira says that their association aims at having a role in preventing some diseases in the community by availing information on how to protect themselves. “Providing health care services to the Rwandan community is part of building our country, we want to be able to reach a very big number in the country and that is why we are advocating for many issues and conducting community outreaches,” he says. Patrick Ndimubanzi the Executive Secretary of the Human Resource for Health secretariat, talked about the different interventions in place to increase the number of medical practitioners in the country. “We currently have 80 to 100 students in medicine, but we are trying to increase the number per cohort up to 150 to 200 students enrolling into medical studies. But to achieve, that we need to increase the number of lecturers, he said, adding that the quest for quantity will not compromise quality. He also hinted at the need to increase number infrastructure including laboratories as well as hospitals where they can carry out their practicals. Although they have managed to reach a wide range of the community and provided different services, the association still faces challenges to reach their expected outcomes. They said that they want to focus on dissemination of information on Sexual Reproductive Health targeting rhe youth. “We are advocating for the patients rights, providing sexual and availing sexual and reproductive health information, we still face a challenge like lack of understanding on sexual reproductive health due to socialstigma and lack of information,” said Niyongira. The association also faces financial challenges and a wider reach out to the community as for now they have only two campuses in Huye and Kigali. MEDSAR was founded in 1997 with 900 members. The association has three main goals one is bringing together all medical students in Rwanda, developing knowledge and research and also supporting the Rwandan society. Patrick Ndimubanzi Executive Secretary of the HRH secretariat, guest of honor president of MEDSAR
