A new report by Transparency International says economically vulnerable people struggled to access health services, and some got complications during the lockdown imposed across the country between March and May last year. The report which was released on Friday, February 19, surveyed about 1,253 households whose members are beneficiaries of Vision 2020 Umurenge Programme (VUP), a social protection initiative designed to improve the welfare of the most vulnerable. The districts that were looked at in the survey are Bugesera, Burera, Gasabo, Gatsibo, Gicumbi, Huye, Kamonyi, Kayonza, Kicukiro, Musanze, Nyabihu, Nyamagabe, Nyarugenge, Nyaruguru, and Rubavu. The study examined, among other things, the socio-economic impact of the absence of VUP funds on the beneficiary’s livelihood during Covid-19 lockdown, and alternative emergency food support received by VUP beneficiaries amidst the same period. The study presented a number of findings, among which 23.1 percent of the surveyed beneficiaries of VUP Direct support (VUP-DS) met health complication issues during the lockdown, due to the hardship that characterized the period for example in terms of transport, and finances. VUP Direct Support (DS) programme, is a category that consists of elderly people who are too weak to work or people with extreme disabilities. “I am a widow with heart disease. Before COVID-19, I always went to Kibagabaga Hospital every month and I was well served. I can testify that doctors took care of us at that time. The only challenge for me is that during the lockdown, I could not go to the Hospital because of limited transport facilities. Due to these circumstances, the status of my heart disease has worsened,” said a VUP beneficiary in Kigali. A local leader in Musanze district also quoted in the survey said: “Amid the COVID-19 lockdown, we experienced cases of patients who were reluctant to seek health services at the health center because they feared to be quarantined. Most of them include those with respiratory diseases who thought they could be suspects of COVID-19.” Among the issues that the survey notes hindered people from accessing health services include Long distance to reach the nearest health center, self-restraint from seeking medical services due to fear of getting infected with Covid-19, and lack of money to pay for medical services. The survey also noted that the VUP beneficiaries were in a poor economic state as 4 in 10 of them did not work toward the end of March, May, June and July; and many did not continue to get their wages while their work was interrupted.
