Health workers’ phones making impact; MoH

KIGALI - An official in the Ministry of Health (MoH) has said that mobile phones that were given to community health workers to facilitate their outreach programmes are having a positive impact on the provision of health services to the population. Speaking to The New Times yesterday, the head of the ICT in the ministry, Daniel Murenzi, said the mobile phones have tremendously improved information flow between the health workers and the ministry. Giving an example of monthly reports compiled by the health workers on expectant mothers and infants, Murenzi, said this helped the ministry in the immunization, monitoring and administering medicines to the communities. He said that the ministry is currently undertaking a programme to train all the health workers who are not able to use the applications to be able to use them before the end of the year. “We’re training trainers in all districts who will go to train others and we should have finished the project before the year ends,” he explained. Under the Mobile Phone for Health Workers programme, each village was allocated three mobile phones by President Paul Kagame during last year’s Itorero. The Presidential pledge to provide mobile phones to facilitate communication for health development was launched in Kibeho Sector, Nyaruguru District in the Southern Province when over 2,500 community-based health workers (CBHWs) acquired phones. During the launch of the programme the Minister of Health, Dr. Richard Sezibera, told the beneficiaries that this is just a part of the government’s plan to foster e-Health, a measure that will ensure that all Rwandans acquire quality health care. The programme which is supported by MTN and Voxiva, a technology partner, enables the health workers to send monthly health reports to health facilities, call ambulances and communicate with health experts at no cost. Ends

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Health workers’ phones making impact; MoH