Thirteen educational institutions in the United States have committed to partner with the Ministry of Health under the Human Resources for Health (HRH) programme to upgrade the healthcare system in a period of seven years.

Dr. Agnes Binagwaho, Rwanda’s Minister of Health

The programme that will be supported by the Clinton Health Access Initiative will help address Rwanda’s skills shortage in dental services, nursing and general medical services.

The programme will also help address insufficient infrastructure, poor management of health facilities and the quality of education for health professions.

The Minister of Health, Dr. Agnes Binagwaho, said that the universities will help Rwanda build a sustainable nursing education system.

“The HRH programme is going to transform and improve Rwanda’s healthcare system. It will build a strong, medical and nursing education system in Rwanda,” she said.

During a twitter interactive session on Monday evening, Binagwaho said the programme will greatly improve the quality of medical education.

One of the institutions contributing to the HRH programme is the New York University’s College of Nursing (NYUCN) which is a global leader in nursing education, practice and research.

The university will send 12 nursing mentors and educators to Rwanda for the academic year 2012-13, according to information on their website.

Funding for the project comes from the US Government (including: PEPFAR, USAID and CDC) and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

According to a press statement on the university’s website, Rwanda is committed to increasing the number of nurses and midwives with advanced certificates five-fold to over 5,000 and multiplying the number of nurses with bachelor’s and master’s degrees.

The statement also revealed that Rwanda, as other developing nations, experiences what the World Health Organization calls “the double burden of disease.”

It faces not only the classic developing- world challenges of AIDS, malaria, malnutrition, and high infant mortality, but also, as urbanization increases, more chronic disease resulting from lack of physical activity and changes in diet.

A well-educated nursing workforce is critical to meet these challenges, and HRH will yield nurses capable of providing excellent patient and community education.

By Maria Kaitesi, The New Times