During the international meeting on HIV/Aids in Washington DC, US top officials praised Rwanda’s health care system and revealed that president Obama’s administration was increasing access to medical care based on Rwanda’s RAMA system.
Secretary Kathleen Sebelius explained that President Obama’s administration was increasing access to subsidized preventive services, based on a similar spirit to the preventive care package that is currently provided in Rwanda by RAMA.
“Rwanda’s success story has been the result of many different strategies pursued simultaneously, including the strong commitment of national and local leaders” Dr. Agnes Binagwaho, minister of health while responding to the compliments made on Rwanda’s progress.
She added that, the rapid scale-up of proven technological and policy innovations, structures to ensure accountability at all levels of the health sector, and a relentless focused on equity.
This was revealed when Rwanda’s health minister, Dr. Agnes Binagwaho meet with the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius where both leaders shared lessons from health reform efforts in Rwanda and the United States.
Secretary Sebelius applauded Rwanda’s progress made in the health-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
Finally, Secretary Sebelius and minister Binagwaho exchanged ideas on areas for new collaborations between the United States global health programs and the Ministry of Health of Rwanda.
Rwanda-US governments identified collaborative studies of the burden of chronic non-communicable diseases such as heart disease, cancer, diabetes, lung disease, and mental illness for better prevention and treatment as a top priority.
There is currently little reliable evidence on these conditions in Rwanda and in the region, so this new research will be essential to the Ministry of Health’s efforts to prevent and treat these conditions.
The meeting between the two officials occurred in the context of the nineteenth International AIDS Conference this week.
A large Rwandan delegation of Ministry policymakers, researchers and civil society members traveled to Washington DC for this conference to share Rwanda’s experience in the fight against HIV/AIDS and to take lessons from other countries around the world.
During the conference, the World Bank President, Dr. Jim Yong Kim urged the world to take lessons from Rwanda’s success in integrating HIV/AIDS prevention, care, and treatment with broader anti-poverty mechanisms.
