Rwanda Revenue Authority (RRA) Monday donated Rwf124.8 million to Rwanda Biomedical Centre to be used in the fight against Hepatitis C in Rwanda. This money was donated by RRA employees and will be used in the testing and treatment of up to 1,300 people. The donation was part of the Ministry of Health’s campaign dubbed ‘Rwanda Cares’, which was launched in December 2018 to eliminate Hepatitis C by 2024. By doing so, Rwanda will become the first country in the sub-Saharan region to eliminate Hepatitis C, way ahead of the World Health Organisation’s recommendation to eliminate the disease by 2030. RBC’s Director-General Dr Sabin Nsanzimana, thanked RRA for being exemplary in giving back to society. ‘’I would like to thank the staff members of RRA for not only having done a great job in their duty of collecting taxes, but also worried about the plight of taxpayers and coming out to support them,’’ he said. Pascal Bizimana Ruganintwari, the Commissioner General of Rwanda Revenue Authority, said that it is part of the roles of such a large institution to pay attention to the needs of the societies they operate in. And since Hepatitis C is a big threat to the lives of many Rwandans, members of the tax body came together and donated whatever they could towards the social cause. “Just as the President usually says that the country’s biggest asset is its people, there is no way we can get taxes if people are not healthy. That is why we had to pay attention to this issue,’’ he told The New Times. Statistics from the Rwanda Biomedical Centre show that 4% of the country’s population is estimated to be infected. Under the campaign (Rwanda Cares), at least four million Rwandans will be screened for the disease and 110,000 who are infected will receive treatment which will reduce the figure to 1% in 2024. Dr Sabin Nsanzimana also hinted on the need for other government and private institutions to learn from RRA’s actions and come out to give back to society through supporting such issues that affect almost everyone. editor@newtimesrwanda.com
