The number of drugs covered under Rwanda's Community-Based Health Insurance (Mutuelle de Santé) increased from 800 to 1,500, following recent government reforms aimed at improving healthcare access to the scheme members, according to Dr. Yvan Butera, the Minister of State for Health. He provided the update on Thursday, March 6, while responding to lawmakers’ queries about challenges to access to healthcare and the government’s efforts to address them. The big classes of the additional medications are related to the treatment of cancer, heart diseases, kidney diseases, and mental health conditions. ALSO READ: Rwanda moves to make cancer treatment more affordable for population The expanded coverage under the scheme, he said, includes drugs for cancer, heart diseases, kidney conditions, and mental health – as major classes of the additional medications. “We’ve added new drugs for mental health and expanded coverage for existing conditions based on research,” Butera said. Cancer drugs, he pointed out, are a significant contributor to medical expenses, with the addition of 14 new services including cancer treatment, kidney transplants, cardiology, minimally invasive surgery, and joint replacements, which were approved by the Cabinet on January 17. ALSO READ: Kidney transplants now covered under Mutuelle de Santé – RSSB To support the expanded coverage, the health insurance scheme required an additional Rwf20 billion, Butera said, citing a related study conducted by the Ministry of Health in partnership with Rwanda Social Security Board (RSSB). RSSB administers Mutuelle de Santé, which covers 92 per cent of Rwandans. The funding will come from various sources, including the increased government, and new contributors including banks and general insurance, Butera indicated. Mutuelle de Santé had been receiving funding from the already existing contributors including government support, traffic fines, telecommunication companies including MTN and Airtel, and health insurance – a component of the insurance sector. “So, now we increased a little bit more the pool of agencies and organisations that support this initiative because community-based health insurance is the foundation really of our health care access to make sure that Rwandans will get services they need at an affordable cost, regardless of where they live or of their financial capacity,” Butera said. “More entities were brought on board. The banking sector is also contributing to the scheme, general insurance is also contributing, the government also increased its contribution,” he said. ALSO READ: Banks, insurance firms to contribute to Mutuelle de Santé as government looks to increase scheme services Butera observed that the funds are crucial to maintaining affordable healthcare for all Rwandans, regardless of location or financial capacity, and assured continued efforts to mobilise more resources accordingly in the future. Regarding cancer patients traveling to Butaro for treatment, Butera assured MPs that, starting in July 2025, cancer drugs will be available at hospitals including the University Teaching Hospital of Kigali (CHUK), the University Teaching Hospital of Butare (CHUB), and Rwanda Military Hospital based in Kanombe. ALSO READ: What does Rwanda's rising life expectancy mean? With the increase in life expectancy at birth (the recent census conducted in 2022 shows that it went up from 64.5 years in 2012 to 69.6 in 2022), Butera said, the inclusion of hip and knee implants (replacements) in Mutuelle de Santé cover is important, since old people’s joints and bones tend to get prone to fracture. Information from RSSB shows that in 2023, Mutuelle de Santé collected Rwf85 billion in contributions, while it paid Rwf75 billion in benefits – to cater for the scheme’s subscribers’ health insurance.
