First Lady Jeannette Kagame, on Sunday August 28, graced the ceremony to confer the seventh cohort of the University of Global Health Equity (UGHE) with a Master of Science in Global Health Delivery (MGHD). The ceremony took place at the university’s main campus in Butaro, Burera district, in Northern Province. The institution graduated 44 students coming from 11 countries globally; Burundi, Canada, Ethiopia, India, Lesotho, Malawi, Nigeria, Rwanda, Uganda, the United States and Zambia. Each student specialized in one of the three tracks in the programme; Health Management (HM), One Health (OH) or Gender and Sexual Reproductive Health (GSRH) – a new track that was added to the programme last year. Mrs Kagame who is also the Co-chair of the UGHE Africa Advisory Board, attended the event alongside a number of other dignitaries including Ophelia Dahl, the Board Chair of Partners In Health, Lesley King, UGHE Board Chair, Government officials, representatives from Partners in Health Rwanda, UGHE partners and supporters, graduands and their invited guests as well as UGHE Faculty, staff, students and contractors. UGHE’s MGHD programmw offers hands-on learning experiences allowing students to witness and tackle health inequity challenges head-on by thoroughly analyzing all social determinants of health that hinder access to healthcare among disadvantaged communities. Under it, the students spend a rigorous year at the university navigating the principles of global health, One Health, epidemiology, global health policy, sexual reproductive health, entrepreneurship, management, gender equity, health finance, anthropology, history, and leadership. “What fascinated me about UGHE is the fact that the global health sciences university is based in Rwanda and how the One Health Program is developed with a perspective of the community it is meant to serve” said Dr Mahlet Tadesse Admasu, an MGHD 2022 graduand from Ethiopia. Dr Agnes Binagwaho, UGHE’s Vice Chancellor congratulated the 44 graduands “who will be joining the 175 UGHE alumni who are committed to delivering equitable quality health care to all leaving no one behind.” She added: “I urge you to build on the diverse global networks that you have gained while at UGHE combined with the knowledge and skills impacted upon you by UGHE’s world class faculty to impact change not only in your home countries but globally.” This was UGHE’s first in-person graduation ceremony in the past two years, since similar events were held virtually due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Despite the loss of the University’s Chancellor and Founder, Dr Paul Farmer who passed away in February this year, the students, staff and faculty of UGHE have been resilient in carrying out his legacy. “I will be a global health professional who leads with intentionality, dignity and integrity”, echoed the MGHD graduands while they together recited their code of honor as their ultimate pledge to serving their communities. In congratulating the graduands, UGHE’s Board Chair, Lesley King thanked the UGHE faculty and staff for their commitment to achieving excellence as they trained the next generation of global health professionals. Delivering her keynote speech, Partners in Health Board Chair, Ophelia Dahl, said that the success of UGHE is proof that long-term investment and a steadfast focus on equity in health care can lead to generational change. “I hope and trust that today’s graduating class will treat, counsel, heal, and advocate for the most marginalized without discrimination. Your success will testify to the fact that UGHE is a scalable and replicable model of an education system intended to serve all” she added. The ceremony concluded with Mrs Kagame and Dahl planting a tree as a tribute to the late Farmer, the founder of the global institution. UGHE is an initiative of Partners in Health – which was also founded by Farmer – whose mission is to provide a preferential option for the poor in health care. Farmer, a global public health champion, was on February 21, 2022 found dead “peaceful” in his bed in Butaro, according to a tribute that was circulated for students and staff at the university.
